Chains
by whimsicalbates
Summary: While having to deal with killing Bob Paris, Alex also gets roped into helping Norma protect Norman. Starting to realise the extent of his investment in her happiness and her safety, will someone from his past help him decide to act on his feelings? Or will he continue convincing himself that Norma is nothing but a burden on him?
1. Chapter 1 - Promise

**POV: Alex**

* * *

Regret.

Panic.

Dread.

... _Relief_.

I couldn't put my current feelings all into one word. I'd just killed a man.

Not just any man either. Bob Paris; a man I've known from a very young age. I practically grew up with the guy for Christ's sake, and he was dead by my hands. The fact that he was a callous, perverted bastard was the only thing keeping me from feeling entirely remorseful.

My history with Bob went way back, so far that I can actually remember a time where we was a respectable human being. That was a _very_ long time ago. We both used to discuss our fathers in such a negative way, yet Bob ended up becoming pretty much a carbon copy of his. I didn't give in, and vowed i'd _never_ become like my dad. Bob disapproved of that, treated me like I was beneath him ever since. Pulling people's strings was like a hobby for him; he got a kick out of it. It was only a matter of time before he pissed someone off just a little too much, and that was exactly what happened in this case. He touched on two of the things he knew very well would get me worked up; my dad, and Norma Bates.

All i'd been doing-all I _could_ do for the past hour was sit at home in the pitch black, the only sound throughout the whole house being the pouring of whiskey. My lips had barely touched the rim of the glass when I was interrupted by the loud buzzing noise of my phone ringing. I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, and I honestly didn't want to look at the name on the screen. Barely _anyone_ called me at this time of night. In fact, barely anyone called me at all-but that wasn't relevant here.

Reaching for my phone, I held it upright and allowed my eyes to adjust to the overwhelmingly bright screen. When I finally saw the name displayed, I let out a groan and rubbed my forehead in distress. Norma. I took a moment to compose myself, knowing I couldn't act unnatural or she'd easily suspect something. Swiping the green button to answer the call, I lifted my phone to my ear. "Norma. Everything alright?"

"Hey, uhm. Well-not really, no. I-uhm..." Her voice seemed like it was getting caught in her throat, clearly struggling to form her words.

"Slow down. Tell me what's going on." I set my untouched whiskey down on the coffee table and sat forward slightly in my seat, eagerly awaiting her explanation.

There was a slight pause, which I assumed was her attempting to compose herself. Her voice returned seconds later, still merely a whisper but a tad calmer and easier to understand. "It's Norman. He's missing. I wanted to believe that he was just mad and needed some air-but it's been a few hours now, and he's not back."

"Well I can't file a missing person's report fo-"

"24 hours, I know. Look, i'm not calling you about this because you're the Sheriff-i'm calling you about this because you're Alex, and I trust you. I'm so worried about him. It's a big ask, because it's really late. But please...please come and help me."

She sounded so helpless-just like she had earlier when speaking of Norman's condition. It was late, and frankly, I couldn't be doing with this tonight. But she had this way of pulling you in, persuading you. I had to go and help her. Getting up from my seat, I threw on my leather jacket and grabbed my keys. "Stay calm, i'll be there soon. We'll find him, I-"

No. I couldn't promise something like that.

"We'll find him." I repeated once more, quickly hanging up the phone and getting in my truck.

* * *

I tried to make the journey from my house to Norma's as fast as it could possibly be, pulling up by the motel when I arrived. I had barely even placed my hand on the car door handle when I spotted Norma hurriedly running out of the office. She opened the door to the passenger seat, hopping up into the SUV.

"Yes, Norma, of course i'll chauffeur you around town-it was lovely of you to ask." I said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Why I saw making jokes at a time like this as a good idea, I have no clue.

She shot me a glare, one of her classics. She looked neither offended or amused, which was a good. Just done with my shit, probably. "Just drive."

I simply nodded, starting up the truck once again and backing up out of the motel. "Where exactly am I driving to?"

"Well I don't know, do I? Anywhere, everywhere..." She shrugged.

"Anywhere and everywhere. Real specific-thanks Norma.

"No problem." She said with a tone that matched my sarcasm, turning away from me and folding her arms.

"Do you have _any_ idea where he might have gone?" I asked, trying to get anything that out of her that could give me a clue on where we could begin our search.

"I'm pretty sure I know who he's gone _with_."

"Oh yeah? And who's that?" I asked, keeping my main focus on the road and glancing at her in the corner of my eye. As far as I knew, Norman didn't have any friends. Then again, I really didn't know that much.

She seemed hesitant to answer, which I at first found quite confusing. And then she abruptly came out with it, and I understood why she might be so hesitant to tell me.

"Bradley Martin."

"Sorry, what?" I briefly looked at her in disbelief, trying to keep my focus on the road ahead of us. "Bradley Martin is dead, Norma."

"That's what we thought. Dylan told me that he and Norman helped her fake her death. He told me why...but-" She scrunched her nose up, shrugging. "I can't remember. Who cares anyway. That's not relevant. But, yup, she's not dead. We think Norman has been with her recently, and that he's running away with her. He'd never run away from me voluntarily like that...I bet you anything that Bradley bitch has talked him into it."

"Woah-wait, Norma..." I was listening to what she was saying to begin with, but then I spotted something outside. I merely saw a figure to begin with, but when the figure came closer I knew who it was.

"Hey, don't 'Norma...' me like that. I know it's harsh, but trust me, she was-and probably is...a bitch. She'd always been a bad influence on Norman."

"No. That's not what I mean. Look outside." Switching my attention from what was outside the truck back to Norma, I could see the dread slowly developing on her face. She hesitantly looked away from me and peered through the front windscreen.

Slowly walking towards the truck was Norman, looking in a complete daze.

Norma opened the passenger seat door, practically stumbling out of her seat and rushing over to Norman. I thought it best to stay in the car and let her do whatever needed to be done.

I could see her trying to talk to him, and if looked as if he was mumbling something but I had a feeling he wasn't talking back to her. It was so strange, it was like he was there physically but not _mentally_. Like something had taken over him. I'd heard Norma talk about Norman's condition earlier on in the night, but actually witnessing it in the flesh had me sympathizing with both of them more than I already did.

Just a few moments later, Norma was leading Norman over to the truck. She opened the back seat door, helping him inside the truck. I watched her as she silently occupied her previous seat next to me once again. "Is he-uh, is he okay?" Silly question really, but I wasn't sure what else to say.

"He will be." she stated, her voice kept to a whisper.

I nodded, getting ready to start the engine once again before I noticed something. Reaching over to Norma, I gently took a hold of her wrist. "Shit, Norma," I lifted up my other hand to switch on the light just above us, the extra light confirming clear as day what I thought I'd just saw;

Blood, all over her hands.

I could see her looking into the rear view mirror, I assume to check Norman's appearance now they were exposed to the light.

Her voice was extremely quiet; if if was humanely possible, even below a whisper. She sighed, sounding a lot more stressed than scared. "His hands are covered in blood too, some on his shirt as well..."

"Do you think-"

"Bradley?" she nodded, resting her head on the window. "If it really was her that he was with, then probably."

I removed my hand from her wrist and shook my head, not understanding how she could be so casual about this. "A girl might just have been murdered. How can you just say 'probably' like it's nothing?" I asked, mimicking her careless demeanor with the word 'probably'.

"In all honesty, Alex, this kind of thing has happened so many times now that I worry far more about Norman than the person he's hurt. It's awful, and it's selfish. But i'm a mother, and we have to put our children first. In this situation, i'm more concerned about what will happen to him than anything or anyone else. So _please_ , you can't let this get out. He can't get blamed for this, he doesn't even know what he's doing. _Please_. You have to promise me." Each time she said it, she'd put an emphasis on the word please. There was sadness, desperation even in her eyes.

She was doing it again, pulling me in. It was almost as if she had me in chains, tightening her grip on them whenever it was convenient for her. Maybe Bob was right, maybe she was using me. The only person who truly knew the answer to that was her. Either way, I still wanted to help her. _I had to help her_.

Promise was such a strong word, but I-

"I promise."

I couldn't help it.

First Bob, now supposedly Bradley. I now had two murders to attempt to cover up, or at least to murderers to cover for-as it was highly likely that the bodies, or some form of evidence would soon be found in this small town.

Things in White Pine Bay, the already crime-ridden town, were about to get a whole lot worse.


	2. Chapter 2 - Make It All Go Away

**POV: Norma**

* * *

It was at the point now that it was so late at night that i'd sat and watched the date change from October the 21st to the 22nd on the radio in Alex's car. I was exhausted, and emotionally drained.

But Norman needed me.

I stood with him in the bathroom upstairs, gently washing the scarlet colored liquid from his trembling hands. Watching it wash down the sink, accompanied with the flowing water, was an accurate representation of it washing out of my brain. The longer he stood there with blood on his hands, the closer I would be to physically throwing up.

He began to mumble, and I had to switch off the running tap to hear him clearly.

"Mother—what are we going to do? Nobody can find out. Nobody can find out what you did to Bradley."

Of course I paid full attention to all he was saying, but I picked up on one word in particular. _You_.

I approached this carefully, knowing he'd had experiences with thinking he'd seen me do or say things that didn't happen before. I didn't want him to get upset—or god forbid, angry.

"Norman, honey...I never did anything to Bradley. I haven't even _seen_ Bradley tonight."

"What are you talking about? Yes, you did, and you _have_ seen her. I watched you keep on hitting her head on that rock! I told you not to do it, but you didn't listen." he pulled his hands away from mine, shaking off the excess water.

"Norman..." I repeated once more, sadness in the tone of my voice. "I've been at home here the whole night, and then I came out to find you. I promise you, I haven't seen Bradley tonight."

"You haven't?" He sounded genuinely shocked, as well as very confused, and it was as painful as a punch to the gut.

"No, sweetie." I said honestly, shaking my head. Picking up a towel, I lightly dried the both of our hands.

After a long pause, Norman finally spoke again—his voice barely above a whisper. "Was it me?"

The previous pause ensued once again, with me not being sure how to reply. "I think...maybe it was..." I whispered, wanting to be truthful with him.

I could see the fear growing on his face, and I knew he needed some reassurance.

"But nothing is going to happen to you, okay? Nobody is going to find out. I promise." Holding his face in my hands, I gently kissed his forehead. "You need to rest—it's reeeally late. Let's get you to bed, hmm?"

Although it was true that he really did need rest, the main reason I began to insist he should go to sleep was because I didn't want this conversation extending further than it already had. I didn't want him to begin asking questions about his condition—ones I didn't know the answer to.

He nodded, trusting me with my reassuring words, but clearly still hesitant about it all. "Okay, mother."

* * *

I waited for Norman to change his clothes, then got some clean pajamas for him and took away his bloody clothes. Once he had got into his bed, I sat on the side and kissed his forehead once more. "Get some sleep, don't worry about anything, and we will sort everything tomorrow." He didn't seem to be responsive, so I jokingly tapped the end of his nose. "Okay?"

A very quiet, breathy laugh escaped his lips and he nodded in agreement. "Okay."

"Good." I smiled, standing up from the bed and switching off the light. "Goodnight Norman." I walked out of the room, closing his door and taking a deep breath. Every time something like this happened, I had to keep a calm demeanor. If I began to panic, that would make Norman panic, and he didn't deserve to have to deal with the stress that I do on a daily basis.

I quickly went into the bathroom to retrieve the bloody towel, making my way downstairs.

As I walked down the stairs, the calm and collected manner i'd put on for Norman had completely washed away. Now the panic began. The blood stained clothes and towel in my hands were making me feel sick—I needed to get rid of the blood.

I rushed through to the kitchen, dropping the towel and clothes in the sink the minute I walked over to it. "It has to go—all of it has to go.." I mumbled to myself as I gathered a good few pumps of soap in my hands, turning on the tap and beginning to scrub violently at the material.

The running tap and my otherwise occupied mind prevented me from noticing that I wasn't alone in the kitchen.

It was the very sudden tap on my shoulder that did the trick.

The contact caused me to jump, dropping the clothes out of my hands and spinning around so quickly that I thought i'd get whiplash.

"Hey—hey, hey. It's okay...it's just me." A familiar voice said, grabbing my shoulders.

"Alex..." My breathing came back to a normal pace, calmed by his touch and simply thankful that there wasn't some kind of serial killer behind me.

"Sorry—didn't mean to startle you." He said apologetically, and I shook my head to dismiss his apology.

"It's fine. Just a little jumpy tonight, I guess." I forced a small smile, crossing my arms over my chest. "How come you're still here?"

"I was going to leave once I dropped you guys back here, but I felt bad. I thought you might need—I don't know, some support or something.." he laughed—the type that seemed like it was out of nerves.

"Oh." I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat as I turned back to the sink. "Well—i'm good. So you can leave."

I closed my eyes; my own words making me despise myself. Every single time it seemed as if the walls between the two of us were coming down, I always had to build them back up again—it was a habit. A habit that, if I was going to stay sane, needed to stop.

"Norma—"

"Please, Alex, just go." I raised my voice ever so slightly, the scrubbing of my hands against the bloody material in the sink becoming more violent the closer to tears I got.

"Norma!" He raised his voice, possibly even louder than mine had been previously.

"I just want to get rid of it!" I shouted, still scrubbing. "I want to make it go away—" I couldn't keep the stability in my voice anymore, and just started sobbing.

I felt a firm tug on my arm, causing me to drop what I was holding and turn back to face Alex. I lifted up a fist—unsure exactly what I planned to do, but he caught my wrist before I could decide. Everything went quiet then; even my sobbing gradually coming to an end.

We both just stood there—motionless and silent, the only sound in the room being my heavy breathing.

Finally I felt the grip on my wrist loosen, and I began to lower my arm. Our hands collided as we both started to pull away, and without a second thought I grabbed his hand.

He looked at me, blatant surprise on his features.

"Stay with me?" I pleaded, staring straight into his alluring brown eyes as I squeezed his hand. "Please."

"I—uhm. I can stay in one of the motel rooms, if you'd like. And then I'll be there...if you need me."

I needed support, comfort. What I needed was someone who would hold me. Someone who would stay with me until I fall asleep. Someone who would tell me everything was going to be okay. Alex wasn't that someone yet—maybe he never would be. After all, I'd never truly had that with a man before...so why would things change now? But for now, even knowing that Alex was only a short walk away was enough. It reminded me that I wasn't alone in this.

A small, grateful smile played on my lips. "Thank you." I let Alex's hand go, reaching for my handbag and pulling out a set of keys. "Take these—" I dropped them into his hand. "Go in the office, pick up a key, and you can stay in that room."

"Alright." He nodded and took the keys, quickly inspecting them before looking back up to meet my gaze. "Give me those..." I followed his gaze behind me, realizing he was referring to the clothes and towel in the sink. I drained out a fair amount of the water from the towel and clothes, before handing them over to him. I never said anything, just looked at him in complete confusion.

"I'm going to take them away with me—because knowing you, I'll get here in the morning and you'll still be scrubbing at them for dear life."

Despite the fact this whole situation was far from funny, I was actually rather thankful for his comment. It managed to get a genuine smile out of me. "Fair point..."

"Seriously, though—try and get some sleep, alright? Being exhausted all the time isn't going to make things any better." I could sense what appeared to be concern in the tone of his voice—and it was somewhat comforting.

"Okay. I'll try."

"Goodnight, Norma" he placed his hand on my shoulder for a brief moment, reassuringly squeezing it.

"Night..." I nodded, smiling faintly as I watched him leave the kitchen.

 _Maybe he would be the one to make it all go away._


	3. Chapter 3 - Casual Conversations

**POV: Alex**

* * *

It must have been around 7:30 when my subconscious jilted me awake, 15 minutes before the time my alarm clock was set for. Never really being the type to stay in bed for that little while longer, I decided to get myself up and dressed.

Even though I was staying in the motel for the benefit of Norma, I couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort here. I'd wisely chosen room number 11—the room in which I had to stay in after the fire in my house a while back. The longer I stayed in the room, the more like 'home' it began to feel—and coming back here made me realise that a feeling like that doesn't go away.

I walked across the motel porch, planning to head straight for the house. But then I spotted Norma in the office. This early, _really_? I took those final steps over to the office, pushing open the door.

She quickly looked up from the front desk in reaction to hearing the door open, blonde curls blocking her view. She brushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ears. "Oh—hey..."

"Expecting someone else?"

"Not necessarily," she shook her head. "I just didn't expect you to come in, I thought you'd have headed straight off for work or whatever"

"Nah, I don't have to go in for a few hours—just like to get up early. What about you though? I didn't think there'd be any need for you to get up this early?" I asked, somewhat confused.

"Is that a snide comment about the success of my business?" She practically jumped down my throat, slamming down the pen she had in her hand.

"Christ—" I raised my eyebrows, holding my hands up briefly in surrender. "No. Calm down. I just meant that I didn't think you opened up this early..."

"Oh," She sighed, eyes closed as she rubbed her forehead. "Sorry..."

"It's fine—" My brows knitted in concern. "You alright?" I could tell she was stressed out about something, but then again, wasn't she always?

A quiet groaning noise escaped her lips, and she tilted her head. "Do you want a coffee?"

So basically, 'sit down and relax, because you're about to hear a hell of a big rant'. I flashed a subtle smile out of amusement and nodded. "Sure, why not."

"Come on through to the back." she said, nodding her head towards the little room behind the desk.

I walked over, and just as I began to make my way behind the desk, she was trying to get out. "Sorry—" I muttered, moving out of her way. However instead of moving the opposite way to me, she moved aside at the same time. We must have let this happen about 4 times before I finally took action, grabbing a hold of her shoulders as I moved aside to make sure we wouldn't coincide with each other's actions again. Norma seemed to duck the awkward exchange very quickly, heading for the coffee machine and pouring two cups full. I did the same, continuing my journey into the back room with a nervous chuckle. The smallest of moments seemed to make us both feel awkward, and it made me think about what would happen if we ever happened to—

No, I thought. And that wasn't the first time I'd had to push thoughts like that out of my mind.

I cleared my throat, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "Sleep well?" I asked, voice raised slightly so she could hear me.

There was a seriously long pause, and that pause answered my question better than her words did. "...Yeah." She eventually said in a feeble attempt to convince me.

"You didn't sleep at all, did you?" I speculated, resting my elbows on the desk.

She came into the room a few moments after I'd asked my question, placing the two coffees down on the desk and taking her seat near me. "Nope."

"That's not good, Norma..."

" _Really_? Oh, I thought having no sleep was completely healthy—that's why I did it." she said sarcastically, a roll of her eyes following. "I know it's not good, Alex, but i'm sorry...I can't help it. Would _you_ be able to sleep knowing that someone close to you murdered someone last night?"

I just about managed to hold back a snigger. Oh, if only she knew. If only she knew.

"The trick is just not to overthink it all, Norma. I know you—I know what you're like. You probably lay there thinking the worst of what's going to come of all this. You needed to have got in the right mind set. Situations like the one you're in can't be solved at ridiculous hours in the morning, so what's the point troubling your mind with it when you can use the time to get some well needed rest?" I grabbed the handle of the mug of coffee she set out for me, picking it up and taking a sip.

"Well i'm sorry that I think things over too much—not all of us have the careless attitude towards life that you do." She said, giving me the classic Norma glare before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Ouch—" I scoffed, raising my eyebrows. Maybe she was right, who knows. Perhaps taking the time to think things over was something that I'd benefit from. Then again, compare anyone in the world to Norma Bates and you could say they have a careless attitude towards life. Norma was the biggest over-thinker, the biggest stress-head i've ever come to meet. In all fairness, she had good reason to be so stressed all the time. There was one thing she was wrong about though, and that was her idea of me having this 'careless attitude' towards life. That wasn't the case at all—especially when it came to her and her safety. The wall built up between us might suggest otherwise, but my attitude towards Norma was the polar opposite of careless.

"So are you planning to stop the sarcasm and insults any time soon and _actually_ talk to me about what's on your mind, or shall I leave?" I asked—pretty much a rhetorical question really.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Stop feeling sorry for yourself." She rolled her eyes, put her mug down and looked over at me—a more serious and genuine expression on her face now. "Well, on top of—you know...all that stuff..."

I nodded, letting her know I understood what she meant and that I was paying full attention.

"I'm just stressed...stressed, because i'm pretty sure it won't be long until i'm out of a job. I mean, for god's sake—that whole freaking key rack is full." She made a dramatic gesture with her hand, pointing over towards the shelf that held the room keys. "And before you decide to be a smartass, i'm not counting your key in that example—you don't count as a customer. I've had absolutely no reservations for...pfft—god knows how long. The business is screwed, and it sucks. I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong..?"

"I know how hard you work with this place—it's not your fault. Sometimes these things just happen, Norma." I sipped my coffee thoughtfully. My advice was not always the best—so heaven knows why she wanted to speak to me about all this.

"I tried these business classes to help—but I don't know. Maybe I just don't have enough experience. I mean...I never took over this motel with a business brain on, you know? I just wanted a fresh start with Norman, something to take our minds off everything."

"Well, what was your job before you moved here?"

She sniggered, and I was at first confused. Had I said something funny?

"Hm, let me think. Housewife—personal slave for my disgusting pig of an ex-husband who barely moved off his ass unless it suited him. Any useful qualifications there?" She raised an eyebrow, and despite the fact the tone of her voice suggested she was trying to be humorous with her comment, I didn't laugh. She really didn't deserve to be treated in that way—in fact, no woman did. They were better than that, she was better than that.

"Well, to be honest, dealing with that guy sounds like it should be a qualification in itself."

"Ha." she nodded in agreement, drinking the last little bit of her coffee. "It should be."

Looking up at the clock on the wall, I coincided with her actions by finishing my coffee and fished my car keys out of my pocket. "Hate to cut this short, but I should probably head off. I don't know how busy I'll be today—but you can still call me if you need anything." Being the unpredictable person that she was, it felt like a bit of a risk leaving her alone at a time like this. As much as i'd like to, I couldn't stay here and watch over her. I had no option; I simply had to go to work. There was this constant battle between Norma and my career, and which was of a higher importance. My career prevailed this time round, as I was very well aware of how at risk of being out of a job I was at this moment in time.

She flashed me a small smile and a nod, which I took as a response and indication that I could leave. I pushed myself up from my sitting position and walked back through into the front part of the office. Just as I reached for the door, I heard the soft and quiet sound of her voice calling to me from the back part of the office.

"I'll see you when you get back, then?"

With those words, I began to wonder just how long she wanted me to stay at the motel. I'd first assumed it'd only be for the night, but what exactly was she expecting? Couple of nights, weeks, what? I wasn't going to make any comments on it. She had me so drawn in that i'd do whatever the hell she wanted me to do, and it was dangerous. Especially considering the fact that i'd even reached to the extent of killing a guy to ensure her safety.

Norma was like a drug to me. An intoxicating, addicting drug that messed with my brain in ways that would drive most people to the point of mental insanity.

But I couldn't give it up—I couldn't give her up.

"Of course."


	4. Chapter 4 - Unexpected Guest

**POV: Norma**

* * *

A few days passed, and each one came as a deja-vu. The routine had been the same every day.

I'd wake up bright and early, go down to the office.

Alex would come into the office at around 8, come and get coffee. I'd join, we'd talk.

Alex would go to work, I'd pretend to be productive by doing 'work', despite the fact that in reality there was no work to do.

Norman would come into the office, we'd talk. Not about Bradley—I kept up all effort to keep all that blocked from his brain for as long as I could. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for myself. It was still troubling me every night, and despite Alex's advice, I still didn't manage to get sleep (or at least a decent amount of it.)

Late night, Alex would come back. I'd be back in the house by this time, but I'd see the lights from his car shine past my curtains and go out to welcome him—no idea why. It was awkward every time. Neither of us really knew what to do or say, and it usually ended with some awkward exchange of goodnights and separating off from each other.

Today was a whole different day.

It started with a moment that I was torn between wanting to erase from my memory completely out of embarrassment and secretly wanting to keep a vivid memory of, for reasons that I was failing to explain in my head.

I needed to speak to Alex about something, but he was late for what had now become his routinely visit into the motel office, at around 8am. I checked the clock on the wall; 8:30am. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I walked over to the door and peeked outside. No sign. If he was still asleep, he'd get a kick up the backside.

I strode purposefully down the porch, stopping just outside Room 11. I knocked once, lightly, just in case he was still asleep. Even if I'd be angry if that was the case, I still wouldn't want to startle him. I frowned in confusion for a moment over the fact that I actually cared about that. A while back I wouldn't have given a shit about inconveniencing Alex. I let my thoughts wash over my head, knocking once again when I didn't get a reply. This time I heard him say something, more of a non-verbal reply (in the form of a groan), but I took it as a 'come in' kind of gesture. So, that I did. Bad mistake. Or perhaps good mistake...

The minute I pushed open the door, I was immediately loudly yelled at.

"Norma!"

There stood a wide eyed Alex, midway through getting ready. Shirt off.

"Oh!—Oh, jeez, i'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I put my hand over my mouth, fighting to stop an amused smile from appearing. He looked so embarrassed and irritated, and I couldn't help but find it extremely hilarious.

But there was also another feeling, something that I'd never felt with Alex before. I felt the urgency to leave the room before I gave something away, but I couldn't. I just kept staring—and if I could forcefully punch myself in the face, I'd do it. I assumed he'd only just woken up, but he looked...

He looked so...

...Attractive?

Secretly, I'd always been physically attracted to Alex. I managed, or at least thought I managed to mask it throughout the time I used to dislike him. However as much as I attempted to deny it, I still found him intimidatingly attractive. I wouldn't dare tell him though, or make it obvious. Again, it was my stubbornness that had me determined not to give him the satisfaction.

It was those alluring dark eyes, his voice, his muscles—oh god, his arms. It was always obvious through the tight fitting clothes that he was well built, but without his shirt I no longer needed to use my imagination. This was bad, oh, this was really bad.

"You can't just walk in on someone like that Norma! That's what these doors are for, privacy!"

"I knocked!" My voice was squeaker than I intended for it to be, feeling like a little child trying to argue their point to their parent.

"Yes, yes you did—and then I told you to hang on. You on the other hand just decided to stroll right in anyway."

"Actually, no, you went..." I lowered the tone of my voice to sound like a man, and re-enacted the grumpy murmuring sound he had made previously. "It's not like i'm fluent in Alex language, how the heck was I supposed to know that grumble meant that you wanted me to keep out?"

"Well then you know for next time, don't you?" He sighed, clearly frustrated. Oh I bet he loved it really. Although I was trying my best to disguise it, I bet he knew I was staring at him. I bet he wanted me to.

"Can you grab my shirt please?"

I scoffed, tilting my head back in over exaggerated shock. "Uh—no! Get your own damn shirt! See this just proves it all doesn't it? You're so lazy! It's nearly 9am you know. You usually leave work for at least 10, and you've obviousl—" I was cut off by Alex taking a few steps forward, standing closer to me than I could handle at this moment in time. Flickering my eyes up to become level with his, I searched for an explanation to the sudden movement. For a second I was convinced that he was about to kiss me, grab my waist, or make some kind of move on me. Instead, he simply reached past me to the chair behind my back. I couldn't tell if I was relieved or disappointed, but either way my otherwise tensed up body language had loosened up.

"It wasn't a difficult task." He said sarcastically, picking up the shirt that'd been right behind me and patronisingly waving in front of me.

"Whatever. Are you coming in the office for coffee this morning or not?"

"Nah I'll have to pass this morning. Sorry. I'm sure you already guessed, but I slept in this morning..." He pulled on his shirt and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Rough day yesterday? I didn't catch you last night...did something happen?" I tilted my head, once again confused as to why I cared.

"We'll talk later, alright? I really need to head off-" He gathered all his things, practically darting out of the door. "Come on." he urged for me to walk out so he could lock the door.

I walked out of the room, growing more concerned at his certainty on ignoring the question. Still, I wasn't going to argue with him. That never ended well for either of us.

He locked the door and shoved his keys in his back pocket, pulling out his car keys in replacement.

"See you then?"

"Bye, Norma. Have a good day."

He trudged off through the gravel, getting into his car.

It must have been nearing 3pm when my attention was drawn to the sound of a car door shutting, and feet shuffling in the gravel outside. I frowned. It wouldn't be Alex, he was still working. My next thought was Dylan or Norman, but then I could hear heels clicking on the porch. The office door opened, a tall brunette walking in and taking a look around. Her eyes focused on me, and I waited for the question she was clearly eager to ask.

"Do you know if there's an Alex Romero staying in your motel?"

I wasn't sure how to answer. If this had been someone more threatening looking—maybe I'd have avoided the question. It wasn't that I didn't think she was threatening just because of her gender, but by judging a book by its cover I built up my own opinion of her. She had a kindness to her voice, and although her eyes mainly showed curiosity, I could see a kindness in those too. She had chocolate brown hair, that annoying mixture of messy yet somehow still beautiful-looking curls, cascading down her shoulders. Her facial structure was unbelievably defined, and it was clear she took pride in the way she looked and put effort into her makeup.

Realising I'd probably just been rudely staring; I decided to answer her question—but carefully. "Who's asking?" I wouldn't want Alex to yell at me for giving away his location to an old enemy or something.

"That means yes, otherwise you'd ask who that was." She correctly speculated, smiling with dimpled cheeks. Her smile dramatically faded. "Oh jeez, you look so scared! Am I intimidating or something?" I sensed concern in her voice, as if the thought of me being intimidated by her upset her.

"No, no—it's not that. I mean...my trust issues are bad as it is. But Romero has a lot of enemies..." I trailed off, tilting my head from side to side in a sort of 'I don't know' way.

"Oh, honey, mine are too. Honestly, I feel you. A 5 year old girl once told me I was pretty, and I genuinely started grilling her on why she said it, who told her to say it, who paid her...everything. Poor girl was so confused!" She laughed nostalgically, shaking her head. "Anyway!" she slapped her hands down on the desk in front of me, pausing as if to remember what he previous point was. "Ah, trust issues. Yeah, you have no reason to worry. I promise. I'm not some evil mafia chick off to kick Al's ass. Although you should really practice on covering for him ready for if someone actually intimidating ever comes asking if he's here. I could see through you like a fish tank."

"You could? Oh..." A laugh escaped my lips, amused by my pathetic attempt at approaching the situation sneakily.

"Just...do one little favour for me? Not like you owe me anything, so it's cool if you don't want to...but tell him his Nattie was here, will you?"

Nattie—short for Natalie maybe? And Al? Even though I didn't know him that well, I'd never of thought Alex would take too kindly to being referred to as 'Al'. The nicknames suggested a familiarity between the two, obviously a close relationship. The word 'his' gave a sense of possession, and it left me convinced she was his girlfriend...or whatever word he referred to her by.

Well, she was attractive. Dark hair, dark eyes, slim, tall, physically fit. Perhaps Alex's type? Alex and I definitely weren't close enough for me to know what his type was, or if he even had one for that matter. But either way, she was that kind of woman that any man would be stupid not to be attracted to.

"Okay, sure, I'll tell him." Whether or not I was telling her the truth, I wasn't too sure. I convinced myself that my reasoning behind not wanting to tell Alex she was here was that I didn't trust her, but I did now. No, my excuse was a lot different. It was a feeling; once again one that I wasn't used to feeling when it came to Alex, one that I would try and brush off.

Jealousy.

"Ugh...thanks so much, beautiful. You're a complete life saver." She blew a kiss my way, bringing her hands together in a praying gesture straight after.

I raised an eyebrow at how thankful and passionate she was. All I agreed to do was let Alex know she had visited; it was nothing to receive a special recognition award for. Her use of the word 'beautiful' and the blow of the kiss made me feel like I was being patronised, but I knew that was just me trying to find a reason to dislike her. She was probably just being nice.

Attraction, concern, and now jealousy. Those were the feelings i'd never have thought i'd associate with my feelings towards a certain Sheriff, and yet i'd felt all three in one day. I didn't have time to be having these feelings, and a part of me wished they were just words on a page that I could just backspace on.

Loneliness, fear, apprehension. Those feelings overtook all the others, messing with my mind and putting me on the brink of insanity. Feelings that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make go away. Feelings that made me a complication to any possible love interests; especially Alex, who no doubt had enough troubles of his own.

I had no time for love. I needed it, but I couldn't afford it.

I picked up a pink post-it note and scribbled down a message to remind myself to alert Alex of 'Nattie's' visit. Just because I was too messed up to have love in my life, doesn't mean that nobody else deserved it.


	5. Chapter 5 - Family Reunion

**POV: Alex**

* * *

Midway through the previous week, I'd started to be questioned about Bob. I somehow managed to worm my way through Special Agent Babbitt's strategically asked questions; which included the typical 'Where were you the night he went missing?' and other quick-fire questions. Her aim was clearly to make me feel intimidated. To make me feel uncomfortable, and to catch me out. It didn't work, thankfully for me, but I knew it wasn't over. She knew something; I was convinced they all did, and that they were just waiting for the right moment to bring it up.

It didn't help that Norma was always sniffing around. She could so easily tell that something was wrong, and it frustrated me. I'd always tried so hard to be a difficult person to read, and I thought I had it with Norma. Perhaps it was a consequence of my growing feelings for her, that a change in my attitude around her was easy to spot.

Today's day of work had been difficult; I'd woken up too late so my routine was turned on its head completely, and I was back a lot later than I usually would be. I pulled up at the motel, feeling a sense of comfort as I arrived in the dimly lit car park area. Expecting Norma to be back in the house by this time, I was confused by the light shining through the windows of the motel office. Pushing open the door cautiously, my eyes scanned the room before fixing on a certain precious sight. Sitting there on a chair she must've brought over to the welcome desk, one hand propped up on the side of her face and the other draped across her lap, was a fast asleep Norma Bates. Now why on earth was she down here so late?

As I stepped closer, it clicked just how much of a precious sight this was. I honestly didn't want to wake her. When she was asleep, it was one of the only times that the immense pain in her eyes wasn't visible. Those eyes, that although beautiful, were a dangerous weapon. They ailed me more effectively than a stab to the chest, a bullet to the heart or anything else known to be painful to a human being.

As much as I wanted to leave her there; for once peaceful and with her mind at rest, I couldn't. I couldn't just leave her here, asleep, door open. Not in a town like this, not with everything that's going on.

"Norma?" I spoke softly, keeping my distance at first. The further away I could stay from potentially scaring her to death, the better.

Unfortunately, no answer.

I tried again and again, same tone of voice. No luck. I sighed, taking a few steps closer and leaning over the desk slightly so I could reach her. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, I lightly shook her. "Norma."

Despite the fact that I was afraid of making her jump, she managed to make me jump as she very suddenly sat upright in her seat. Violently swatting the hand I touched her shoulder with, she spoke loudly with squinted eyes. "Don't you dare touch me, i'm armed!"

"Woah, woah—it's just me." I moved my hand away from her shoulder, lifting my hands up in surrender and taking a step back.

Her eyes stayed narrowed for a moment, before regaining their usual shape. Like as if they needed a moment to focus on their surroundings. "Oh..." Her voiced softened in contrast to its previous urgency and threat. "Sorry." She averted her eyes and pushed hair behind her ears, giving the impression that she was embarrassed.

"No, no. No need to be sorry. It's wise to be wary in this town. That's the only reason I woke you up, it's really not the best idea to sleep down here with the lights on and door open..." I said,

"Well obviously I didn't mean to. I came down here about an hour ago to wait for you, I needed to tell you something. I must've accidentally drifted off. Thank god it was only you..." She put her hand on her chest, closing her eyes briefly and shaking her head.

"What would you have done if it wasn't me, huh? Attack them with your killer room keys? You did say you were armed..." Lord knows why I was teasing her. I wasn't in the best of moods and besides, her comment was actually quite an upsetting one when you thought of the context. She had every right to be in fear of being alone and vulnerable in a place where such horrible things had happened to her.

"Oh ha ha. Well I had to try and seem threatening, didn't I?" She narrowed her eyes at me, an act of sarcasm this time around.

"No offence, Norma? But when you're asleep, you look about as intimidating as a butterfly." I said honestly, raising an eyebrow as pictured the previous image of her adorably curled up in the chair.

"Intimidating! Oh!" She quickly sat up from her seat, once again making me jump. "That reminds me. A woman came in earlier looking for you."

"I worry that the word 'intimidating' reminded you that someone came to see me..." I said with curiosity, and a slight hint of concern. Though, i'm not sure why. As far as I knew, I didn't have any female enemies. An ex, perhaps? But I'd hardly consider her intimidating.

"Oh no don't worry. It's just me, that's all. I don't know—she was just...like, she really really pretty. A lot taller than me, dark eyes. I just found her intimidating. You're a guy, you wouldn't understand." She laughed, one out of nerves I was sure. If my suspicions were correct then Norma felt self-conscious around this mysterious woman, and that thought truly broke me. "But, yeah, she was looking for you. Called herself 'your Nattie', if that means anything?"

"Nattie? Nattie as in Natalie?"

"Well I don't know do I? She didn't give me her whole frickin' life story. She apparently just wanted 'Al' to know that she called." I sensed an unfamiliar tone to her voice; it had suddenly turned a lot more serious and almost as if she was annoyed. "She your girlfriend, is she?"

Her words and tone had me beginning to think she felt jealous, but any further thoughts on that topic were washed away by her next comment. "Oh my god. Norma, please never ever ask that. Ever again. Ever."

"Oh I see. You don't talk about it. Fair enough, you're closed off about everything else so I don't see how you wouldn't be closed off about this. Good match though, as I said she's really attrac—"

"Norma...STOP." I interrupted her before she could say any more. If she were to continue any longer, I feared that I would actually throw up right in front of her.

"...She's isn't your girlfriend, is she...?" Her wary tone suggested that something in her brain had finally clicked, and that she knew now why I was so disgusted by her comment.

"Nope." I said simply, shaking my head.

"...You're related to her, aren't you...?"

"Yup." I said in the same tone, this time nodding and closing my eyes in second hand embarrassment.

Her head dropped down on the desk. "I—" She banged her head down. "hate—" Another hit. "myself."

"It's alright. If she didn't introduce herself, it's an easy mistake to make."

"So what, is she your sister then? Because now I think about it, actually, you do have some of the same features..."

"Half, that bit has never really mattered that much. She's 3 years younger than me, so we grew up together, but not...together, if you know what I mean."

"Same dad different mom or different dad same mom?" Her head tilted in curiosity, resting her chin on her hand. I'd never seen her so interested in my personal life before.

I gave her a look of slight confusion, still unsure if she really was as interested as she sounded. For some reason, I'd started to second guess everything she said to me. It was after Bob's comment about her using me, which was ridiculous really. Bob was hardly a reliable source. The thing is, he knew that Norma was a touchy topic to me. He knew that he could get right under my skin by winding me up about her. He knew exactly what he was doing, so whether he had a death wish or something I have no idea. Even dead, he still messed with my mind.

"Same dad, different mom. My dad cheated on my mom when, well, when I was around 2 or 3 I guess."

"Oh..." Her face held numerous emotions; disgust, also sympathy. Or what I took as sympathy, anyway. It was something I rarely received from her, so it was comforting to think she might actually care about how I feel.

"Yeah—but it wasn't really a big thing. I mean obviously I didn't know what was going on at the time, but it was explained to me when I was old enough. It wasn't like a full on affair or anything, you know...not like a big scandal. Just a one time thing I guess. My mom forgave him without hesitation, I mean she loved him and I guess she wasn't in the right position of power to give him a hard time about it, you know?"

"So, you said you grew up together but not…together together. Does that mean Natalie lived with her mom then?"

"Yeah, but my dad wasn't your typical asshole about the whole thing. You know, it wasn't one of those refusing to see her or be involved in her life kind of situations. Nat came and stayed with us every now and then when it was necessary; when her mom was out of town or whatever. Which when I think about it was quite often, but it's not like any of us minded. She and I were close, and so were her and my dad I guess. Weirdly, she was really close to my mom too. I can remember my mom being so sweet with her, treating her like one of her own...you know? It was nice, the bond between them. Strange, but nice. I never really thought anything of it until I was old enough to understand, so when I was old enough it kind of hit me how much of a star mom was about the whole thing."

I'd been watching her face as I talked, needing her facial expressions and general reactions to reassure me that I could continue and wasn't boring her. Her face had held a look of concentration the entire time, but I saw a fond smile tug at her lips at my last few words. "Sounds like your mom was a great woman."

I returned the smile, although mine was different. One of sadness, or in other words a failed attempt at masking my sadness. Briefly averting my eyes from her gaze, I cleared my throat and looked back to her. "Mm, yeah. She was."

"Ugh," she frowned. "I suck. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up, I wasn't trying to upset you..."

"I know, it's alright. Honestly. I'm just not used to talking about it this much, that's all."

"I get it. I suppose we have that in common—"

Brilliant moment for my phone to buzz loudly, ruining the comfortable atmosphere that had finally ensued between the two of us. "Shit, sorry. Give me a minute..."

No caller ID.

"Hello?" I asked, hushing a curious (more like nosy) Norma as she whispered asking who it was.

"Hey, it's Natalie. Did you get my message or not?"

"Nat? Yeah, I got your message. But why—are you still in town? Where are you?"

"No, i'm in Egypt. Of course i'm in town dumbass. Where I am specifically talking—well that depends where you are. If you're actually where i've been told you are, then surprise! I'm outside. If you're not, well then i'm standing like a fucking idiot in the rain outside some irrelevant place called the Bates Motel aren't I. Whichever one it is, please just come and get me."

I didn't even answer on the phone. It felt ridiculous, since she was right outside.

She had her back turned to me as I walked out, and she continued to speak to me over the phone. "Al? Alex? Are you ignoring me? Hey, look, I know I left in a hurry last time but you should be used to that by now. I fucking know that you're in White Pine Bay because you're like a magnet to this town, so don't even bother lying to me. Either way, you better come and pick me up right now or I swear I will find you and I will kill you because i'm freezing my—"

Thought I'd leave her for a while. I found it amusing, watching her pacing angrily around the car park area. So clueless. It did get boring mid-rant, though, so I decided to put her out of her misery. Hanging up the phone, I stuck it in my back pocket. Before she could begin to protest over me hanging up, I called over to her. "Nat."

She looked at her phone, as if she was convinced the sound of me speaking was still coming from that. Then she stood still, which is when I knew the realisation must've hit. She turned around slowly, annoyance written all over her face as I waved at her.

"You're such a dick."

I simply grinned in response, and her anger didn't seem to last much longer after that.

The corners of her lips began to curl up into a huge smirk. "A dick that i've missed." She quickly walked towards me, and I stood with my arms open as I waited. Her arms flew around my neck the minute she was close enough and I wrapped my arms around her tightly, unintentionally swaying side to side due to the impact of the hug. "I've missed you so, so much." She said as she dropped her head into my shoulder. "I've missed you too, Nat..." I said in between small chuckles, the speed in the change of her emotions reminding me of a certain someone else.

And speak of the devil...

"Hey again." I heard Norma's voice from behind me.

I felt Nat begin to release herself from the hug, so I took my arms away from her to allow her to answer the comment that I assumed Norma directed to her.

"Oh! You! You're the one that I talked to. You're also not called 'you'. That's really rude, i'm sorry. You are..."

Norma stepped forward and held out her hand, filling the missing space in Natalie's question. "Norma, Norma Bates. I've only just now realised how you guys know each other. Since you didn't introduce yourself before, and Alex had never mentioned you, I kind of thought—"

"That we were together? Ugh, christ! .time, I swear to god. Alex, can you please start informing people of my existence? I feel pretty unloved, i'm not gonna lie." Her glance continuously shifted between the two of us, before fixing solely on Norma. "I apologise, Norma, for his rudeness. Natalie Sofia Romero at your service." She accepted Norma's hand, shaking it firmly. "Oh and that's Romero by blood, fyi. Not in any way part of a relationship with this fool," her head tilted towards me, and she winked at Norma. "I wouldn't be even if we weren't brother and sister."

Norma looked so confused, and I stood there rubbing my forehead intensely. I knew Natalie all too well not to know what was happening here.

"Well…I certainly see similarities between you and I, Norma, but I have a feeling I know one difference. Pretty sure we do not bat for the same team." she pulled her hand away from the handshake, tapping Norma's shoulder with an awkward smile. "Nice to meet you, darl. Any chance I book a room?" She asked, pretty much a rhetorical question as she stepped straight into the motel office.

Knowing Natalie, and knowing Norma, this combination could either go really well or really badly. They had a lot in common, but that could either cause them to clash or bond. I hoped for the latter, it'd make things a hell of a lot easier.

Worryingly, like Norma, Natalie was a slight bit of a babbler. She also knew me very, very well. If she picked up even the tiniest of hints that I might possibly have feelings Norma, I'd never hear the end of it. If Nat's famous lack of ability to keep secrets paid off, I feared that Norma could end up hearing about it too.


	6. Chapter 6 - Precaution

Although she was related to Alex, Natalie was still my first proper guest in a long time. I hadn't made her stay here like I had Alex, and she would be paying me that well–needed money. Bearing this in mind, treating her like a shiny new toy was something that I was failing to avoid.

Demanding that Alex must get Natalie a cup of coffee, I took my place behind the welcome desk to get a room sorted for her. "How long are you going to be staying?"

"Hmm.." She leaned against the wall, tilting her head from side to side. "What about you, Al? How long are you—in fact, actually, why _are_ you here?"

As he returned to the desk with three cups of coffee, Alex merely stood there with his mouth wide open like a goldfish, appearing clueless as to how to answer Nat's question.

"I guess that's my fault," I interrupted guiltily, laughing quietly. "Something bad happened around here recently and so I asked Alex to stick around here for a while. For precaution, y'know."

"Ah, _precaution_. Mhm, yeah." She picked up her coffee and took a sip, slowly nodding. I was far too tired to tell if the tone of her voice conveyed sarcasm or understanding, but I at least knew it was between the two.

"A couple of nights will do her, Norma." His tone seemed harsh, but it was difficult to tell if it was serious or if he was joking around with her. The latter would be pleasantly surprising.

She scoffed and slammed down her cup. "A week!"

"Five days."

"Nope." She shook her head, clearly refusing to negotiate with him. "One week."

"Six days."

I cleared my throat, riskily interrupting the family disagreement. "Hi. Sorry. May I remind you, Alex? This is _my_ motel, so the length of time she stays here isn't _really_ your choice to make..."

"Hah! Thanks Norma. Well...you know what? In a recent turn of events, i've decided that i'd like to stay for _two_ weeks. You think that's okay?" She looked towards me, her lips curving into a sly smile.

"Oh of course! No problem." It was obvious her aim was to irritate Alex, and that did make me laugh. I could already see the two of us getting along quite nicely. Though, jokes aside, she was still the first official guest i'd had at the motel in a long time. I still had to be professional. "Just fill in your details here..." I slipped a form and a pen over the desk. "And let me know if you have any questions, special requests or a preferred room number."

"I choose 7 for everything. Lucky number, don't ask why. And I do have a question, actually." She leaned forward, folding her arms on top of the desk with a look of curiosity on her face.

"Please, go ahead." I'd been in many a situation here where I was asked a question concerning the motel that i'd failed to come up with an answer for. Hopefully, this wouldn't be one of those moments.

"Who is with you in that picture?"

I followed her gaze, noticing the picture of me and Norman on the wall just behind me. "This one? Oh, that's my son Norman. He works in here too, so i'm sure you'll see him around at some point."

"Norma...and Norman?" She grinned, and for once I saw no signs of sarcasm or judgement. Unlike how most people usually reacted, Natalie just seemed intrigued. Almost like she knew I had reasoning behind the name similarity.

"Mhm. Boys always get names after their fathers, you know? So I couldn't understand why it shouldn't be able to work the other way around too." I admitted with a shrug. Honestly, I felt like i'd said that line so many times in my life that I had it memorised.

"You know what, that's fucking brilliant. I totally need to call my son...like...Nathaniel. Oooh, yes. He could even be called Nate for short! God i'm good. Shame though, i'll probably never use it. God damn lesbian science!" She tutted in disappointment and snapped her fingers, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Though the motherly side of me then caused my laugh to fade, as i'd taken a moment to imagine how i'd feel if I couldn't have kids. I would truly be devastated. "But there are ways, though? I mean you aren't totally ruled out of having kids."

"Oh, yeah, no I know. It's just...I don't know. It's always so complicated, the whole process...whether it's adoption, or well any of the other alternatives really. I just wish it was as easy as it is for you guys, you know? Not that i'm saying pushing a baby out is easy for anyone, but..."

"No, I know what you mean. And well yes, it should be." I agreed, sympathising with her.

She flashed an appreciative smile, filling in the last few sections on the form i'd given her before pushing it back over the desk with the pen. "You know Mrs Bates, i'm glad you're cool. Alex has had homophobic friends in the past and I just—no. Bob fucking Paris, though. Oooh, god that guy gets me riled up." Her fists tightened, and in that moment I completely related to her. His smugness, arrogance and general vile personality made him an awfully frustrating man. "Is he still 'round here? Or has someone finally got too sick of his shit and put an end to him?"

Mrs Bates, the title that drove me mad. She wasn't to know, but I had to correct her before the name became a common thing. "Oh, please...please just call me Norma. And well, I—"

I barely got as far as the first word of my reply to Natalie's question before Alex chipped in. He seemed to have been zoned out all the way throughout mine and Natalie's conversation, but the mention of Bob had him jumping out of his daydream immediately.

"Yeah he's still here."

Both of us jumped back slightly as he spoke, almost as if we had forgotten he was there. Natalie spoke first. "Oh. Well, then i'm staying as far from him as possible. Is this a Paris-free zone, Norma? Tell me it is..." She turned to me, her face hopeful.

"I wish I could say it was but I can't promise anything, i've had some business with him recently so I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up."

"Pretty sure your deal with him is over, Norma. He tends to back off once he's got what he wants. He gets bored." Alex jumped in once again, seeming adamant that Bob wouldn't turn up.

"Yeah, but he still could—"

"He won't come back."

"Jeez...okay, okay. Relax." I frowned, holding my hands up. "What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you so tense?"

"Because he loves to be right, Norma. When he has a hunch, he'll go and tell everyone so he can be all 'Hurhurhur I told you so! Look at me, the macho man who's always as wise as an owl!' if he ends up right.". She rolled her eyes, punching Alex's shoulder what appeared to be only playfully. "No, Al. Just no. Don't get her hopes up. Don't get my hopes up! He could turn up, you can't possibly be sure."

"Don't butt into things you don't understand, Nat. You haven't bothered to make contact with me in over a year, if you did you might actually know what's been going on."

I raised my eyebrows, feeling the tension in the room grow massively. "On that note..." I took the key for room number 7 off it's hook, turning back to Natalie and placing the key in her hand. "I hope you have a wonderful stay."

"Yeah, i'm sure I will..." She said in between laughter, obvious sarcasm in her voice. She turned to Alex, spinning the key around her finger. "Think we can just press pause for a sec and reschedule this argument? I'm exhausted."

"Paused."

She shrugged up her shoulders and smiled, brightly, like a satisfied little child when they get what they want. "Love you!"

"I know." Harsh, I thought. Though somehow, behind the emotionless expression and tone he so commonly held, I could tell there was some of that sibling pretend-hatred thing going on. He cared for her, I could see he did.

She laughed, rolling her eyes like she knew what his real answer was. "Night Alex. And goodnight Norma."

"Goodnight." I smiled, waving her off. "Have a good first nights sleep, let me know if you need anything."

"Will do. Bye!" She downed the remaining contents of her coffee, placing the mug down by the coffee machine and heading out of the office, once again swinging the key around her finger as she walked.

"Now she seems really _nice_. So why do you have to be a dick with her? Or is that just your way of joking around? 'Cause if it is, you really suck at it." I copied Natalie by finishing off my coffee, taking Alex's empty mug along with mine and putting it with the other ready-to-be-rinsed mugs. Alex had briefly spoke to me about him and Natalie's relationship, but only really how they were when they were young. I didn't know what their relationship was like these days. If they were still just as close, then perhaps Alex's miserable attitude was something Natalie took lightly.

"Half is, half isn't. She's my sister, obviously I love her. But she runs, it's her habit. She'll stick around for a while, then she'll just leave. She won't tell anyone, say where she's going, say why. Then she won't call for months, years even. No explanation, not even a text or a call to let you know she's alright. And then out of nowhere, she'll just stroll on back in my life like she never left."

"Come on, Alex, really? She's what...in her early forties? Give the woman a break, i'm pretty sure she can do what she wants."

"Yeah, alright, whatever. Look—I think i'm going to head home. As in home home. Things have been going well over the past few days, you don't need me here anymore, and i've got things to do anyway. Call me if Nat causes any trouble." He began making his way out of the office, and I refused to let him leave thinking that i'd be sad about it.

"Okay, fine with me." I folded my arms, frowning. "Why are you saying that like you think I care?"

He turned back, and by the smug look on his face I just knew that he had a good argument up his sleeve. "Because if I remember rightly, you're the one that grabbed my hand and begged me to stay with you."

"Yeah, well. That's because I was tired, I was scared and I was desperate. I would've asked _anyone_ to stay with me that night." _Another lie_. If anyone else was with me that night, i'd have told them to get out and leave me alone. I told myself it was nothing more than the fact that Alex was the sheriff. It was for precaution. Nothing more.

He pursed his lips for a moment, shrugging. "Okay." His expression was one of those ones that made you want to punch him. Smug, confident—like as if he knew; like he could read me and knew that in reality I did want him here.

He turned his back to me once again, grabbing the door handle and mumbling "Goodnight, _Mrs Bates_." before he walked out.

Now he was just testing my patience. And he damn well knew it.


	7. Chapter 7 - Tension

**POV: Alex**

Over the past week i'd stayed at the motel, I developed a routine. It didn't differ much from my usual one, the only difference the addition of a certain blonde. That small alteration to my day made all the difference. Not only had the perks of seeing her every morning included being able to check up on her, but also the fact that we would talk. Normal conversations about normal things, not about deaths or disappearances. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely that that equilibrium was going to last. With all that was brewing with the death of Bob and the assumed death of Bradley Martin, there was a vicious storm ahead. Not to mention the fact that Natalie's arrival had disaster written all over it.

Although it was strange being back in my own home, my everyday routine neglected of seeing Norma every morning, it was a wise decision to come back. Norma, Natalie and I being in the same room for what must have only been 20 minutes had already almost been disastrous. It raised suspicions on my involvement in Bob Paris's 'disappearance'; definitely for Nat, for Norma I couldn't be sure. She was always difficult for me to read, so unpredictable and annoyingly good at playing games. Either way, I wasn't willing to risk sticking around long enough for Nat's metaphorically large mouth to reveal all my secrets in front of Norma.

Seven days was my limit. Embarrassingly, that was the longest time my subconscious allowed me to stay out of contact with Norma. With everything that was going on it was almost essential for me to know that she was alright. Not like i'd let her know that, or Natalie for that matter. My excuse for this visit to the motel, if it came up, would be that I was merely coming over to check up on my oh-so-troubled sister.

After parking my truck just outside the motel, I stepped onto the porch and took a quick glance into the office. Norma was sat at her desk, typing away on the computer. Just as I was about to draw my eyes away to see Natalie in her room, she unexpectedly popped up in the direction I was already looking. She came from the back room and stepped behind the desk next to Norma. She rested her elbow on her shoulder and pointed at something that I was too far away to see on the laptop in front of them both. Curiousness and frankly nosiness washing over me, I pushed open the door and walked inside.

Norma looked up, a smile flashing on her face. "Alex! Hey!" The expression and tone of her voice was almost identical to the time at the family dinner, where I walked in the house after taking the time to recover from my drunken state in one of the motel rooms. At first i'd thought it was some form of sarcasm, or something along those lines. But as she insisted that I stay for dinner, I knew then that she was genuinely pleased that I was there. I wasn't sure why, and I wasn't this time around either. My company was hardly thrilling.

"Uh-" I chuckled quietly, a nervous reaction to her happy mood that I wasn't great at mirroring. "Hey. How have things been?"

"Calm, surprisingly." She answered, and a feeling of relief washed over me. Just imagining the guilt I would feel if something bad had happened while I was gone was painful.

"Yeah? Oh, well, good. You been alright Nat?" I asked, my tone sounding less enthusiastic as I switched my attention to her. I meant nothing by it, she knew deep down that I will have been thinking about her. No matter the things she's done, I always worry about her. She knows that very well; uses it to her advantage half the time.

"I have actually, i've been brilliant. I'm so glad I came here. You know most motels take your booking, shove your room key in your hand and let you get on with it...but Norma has been really nice company." She smiled contently, switching her gaze between me and Norma.

"You know I just can't _believe_ you never told me you had a sister, Alex. We've been getting along so well! She's actually just persuaded some of her contacts to come and stay here at the motel. Isn't that nice of her?"

I narrowed my eyes and nodded. "Lovely. Nat can I borrow you outside for a moment?"

"Sure can. I'll be back in a flash Norma." She pressed her hands on the surface of the counter and span around the corner, making her way over to me in a skipping motion. No wonder people always assumed she was younger than she actually was. Only 3 years younger than me, yet she somehow still felt like my little sister. As well as the youthful glow she somehow managed to maintain, she acted like a child. Or maybe that was just how she went about being happy, something I wouldn't know much about.

"So what's up?"

Stopping just outside the office, I closed the door shut behind us. "You didn't take the hint that there's no chance of Norma being interested in you the first time? Trying to impress her by heroically solving her money problems won't change anything."

"Oh, god. You're unbelievable, you know that? I am fully aware that Norma isn't going to fall for me, thank you very much. Since that first moment where I, harmfully may I add, flirted with her...it was obvious she was straight. Christ, I haven't seen horror like that since the time I threatened that 10 year old for claiming the last Hershey's in the candy store." I laughed at the memory of me taking Nat to our local candy store, something we'd do often. Almost every time she'd pick up a Hershey's bar, so when the younger girl had swiped the last one, she gave her the signature death glare that terrified the poor girl. The serious look on Nat's face reminded me this wasn't a time for nostalgia or laughing. She was pissed.

"Look, if I take interest in a woman that so happens to be straight, i'll let her go. But does that mean we can't be friends? It damn well shouldn't do! There may be this stereotype going around that lesbian women only hang around with guys, but I don't fit it. Nine times out of ten I get along with women better than I do with men, doesn't always mean I want to jump their bones. Her and I get along, okay? She is the first person that has properly taken interest in my life for god knows how long, and i've seriously appreciated her company over the past few days. If you're going to take that away from me just because you're afraid i'm trying to 'claim' your girlfriend, be my fucking guest. But let me tell you Al, jealousy does _not_ suit you." She began walking away, and I stepped in to block her way and held her arm to keep her close.

"Hey, you just made a whole bunch of assumptions that i'm seriously not okay with. I have never _once_ treated you any differently because of your sexuality, and you damn well know that. I've always been the one to have your back when everybody else treated you differently, so don't you dare try and make out like that's what i'm doing here. All i'm concerned about is that you might have feelings for her, and I just don't want you to be disappointed if...when-"

"Yeah I get it Alex...but I don't appreciate being patronised, alright? I might technically be your little sister but we're only three years apart. You don't need to treat me like an innocent little kid. I'm not stupid, I know when I have a chance and when I don't. For once, trust me when I tell you that I am not trying to win her over, nor do I have actually even have any kind of feelings for her that go beyond friendship. Hey she's a beautiful woman, i'm not gonna deny that, but i'm pretty sure nobody would. But I really do admire her; as a person, and as a friend. That is as far as it goes, I assure you."

I knew Nat well, and seeing the look on her face; the honesty, the determination to put across that she was telling the truth, I knew that she really was innocent of what I was accusing her of. Guilt washed over me then, because I could fully understand how she must feel patronised. That was never my intention, hell I don't even know what my intention was. Something inside of me just urged me to confront her about it.

"Look...if you want me to back away from being her friend, i'll back away. I have no interest in making her feel uncomfortable or provoking you. Just, realise what you're doing here...yeah? Making sure that nobody is crossing your territory. I'm pretty sure that means it's time to cross it yourself..." She said, with a shrug and one of those subtly smug 'You know i'm right' kind of smiles. I frowned, loosening my grip on her arm and allowing my hand to drop back to my side. Not that i'd admit to it, but she really was completely right. That's exactly what I was doing. Since when had I fallen so hard for Norma that i'd reduced to being the jealous and possessive type?

It was like she couldn't be mine, and I knew that, but at the same time I didn't want her to be anyone else's either.

"I don't want you to stop being friends with her. I, uh, I was an ass. I'm sorry. You're wrong, though. I'm not trying to make sure nobody is 'crossing my territory' at all. Just didn't want you getting hurt." It was partly true, but also just a cover up. I wasn't worried about Nat at all. Not in a bad way, but in the sense that she was a tough cookie; if she did happen to have feelings for Norma and she got rejected, she'd simply shake it off. Sadly, i'd had to watch her grow used to it over the years.

"Mm." Unconvinced, once again. Though thankfully, not feeling like embarrassing me by grilling me on my feelings for Norma. "Well, nobody likes a third wheeler...so i'm gonna head off and let you guys talk about-whatever it is you talk about. Tell Norma i've gone into town to go get those lightbulbs she needs, won't you?" She tapped my shoulder lightly, taking a few steps back and smiling before walking away.

Putting my hand on the door handle to make my way back into the office, I had to quickly stop myself from pushing the door open into Norma who was standing on the way. A guilty look on her face, she stepped back so I had room to open the door. She bit her lip and scrunched her nose up, an undoubtedly adorable sight. "Sorry..." she whispered.

"For eavesdropping?" I shook my head and laughed slightly to dismiss the further guilt that grew on her face after my comment, which i'd said intentionally to heighten her humiliation of getting caught in the act. "It's fine."

"Well I wasn't exactly _eavesdropping_. I could hear shouting and I was just checking things weren't getting too heated." She insisted with an innocent shrug, and I simply laughed once again.

"Alright, Norma." In all honesty I didn't care how much of our conversation she'd heard. All the argument was was both of us making assumptions about each other; no secrets were actually revealed, thankfully. If she ever were to find out about anything I was hiding from her, I wanted it to be by no other method than me actually plucking up the courage to tell her myself.

"You're too hard on her, you know." She said, making her way back to where she'd previously resided behind the desk. Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she began typing on the laptop once again.

I could've given her this whole speech about how she was wrong and that she shouldn't butt in to things she didn't understand, try to make myself look better. Unfortunately, her words were probably very true. I sighed, nodding my head in appreciation of her comment. "Yeah. I know."

Her head shot up, like I'd said something shocking. "Woah. Hang on. Did you just-" she put her hand over her chest, quirking an eyebrow in surprise. "- _agree_ with me?"

I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head. The laughter was midway between sounding sarcastic, and out of actual amusement. "Yeah, looks like I did."

"I thought i'd never see the day..." A smirk played on her lips, a sort of smug expression that showed how much knowing she was right satisfied her. "Well, i'm glad _this_ is what you choose to agree with me on. Because this is important. It's important for siblings to get along, you know? Especially when you don't really have anyone else."

"Oh is it? You know that's funny, because it doesn't look like you and your brother skip around town holding hands."

Her mood changed rapidly at that comment. The smirk on her face faded away, an angry expression replacing it. Inspecting her face closely to look beyond the anger, I could see the familiar sadness that her beautiful blue eyes so commonly held. I didn't intend for the remark to affect her the way that it appeared to have done. She averted her gaze from me in a cold manner, speaking to me without looking my way. "Don't you have crimes to solve, people to arrest? You know, important things to do that aren't butting into my business?" Her voice was quiet and flat, the type of tone that would usually come from me. Hearing it from someone else, especially from Norma who was usually so expressive, I could see now why people didn't like that trait in me.

"Norma, I was just-"

"My relationship with my brother is none of your concern, Sheriff. The only reason I care about how you treat _your_ sister is because she is a guest at my motel, and if my guests are upset then that means i'm not providing the service I promise." Her eyes were practically glued to the laptop screen and she was typing, but I had a feeling that it was just a way of making herself look busy so i'd leave.

If not from the tone of her voice, I knew she was pissed by the fact she'd called me Sheriff. Ever since the day I assured her she could call me Alex, she never once referred to me as anything else. Hearing the formal name from her lips was disheartening, because it took away the casual demeanour we now had around one another. For a moment it felt like everything had gone backwards, and we were just the mysterious new motel owner and the suspecting sheriff all over again.

My comment had obviously hit a nerve, and it only heightened the concern I already had for her. Until now, I assumed her and her brother were just in a 'We're older now, so we don't see each other that often' kind of situation. Now, though, I got the hint that something had happened between them. Everything would make sense if that was the case. How she seemed to tense up every time he was mentioned, how Norman had given him a death glare at the family dinner. Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket I pulled myself out of my thoughts, simultaneously drawing my eyes away from Norma who i'd been staring at in hope to somehow figure out the irritatingly complex woman. "This is work, I...uh...better take this."

No answer. It took a minute or two of silence for her to realise that I was actually waiting for a response before I took the call. She looked up towards me, though not directly in my eyes. Like as if she knew that her eyes said a thousand words; words that she didn't want to be shared. "You better had."

My eyes narrowed, more filled with concern than suspicion or inquisitiveness. Surely if Norma and her brother had simply had a minor family argument, me touching on that wouldn't spark up this much anger. It was no secret that it didn't take much to trigger a Norma mood-swing, but this was different. It wasn't like i'd said something, and she'd got angry and yelled at me. I'd said something that'd clearly got to her, but she she didn't reduce to one of her freak-outs. She simply gave out a whole bunch of cutting remarks, and avoided my gaze. That, somehow, was worse and more worrying than if she'd screamed at me and launched her laptop across the room.

Saying nothing more on the matter in fear that she actually would end up screaming and launching her laptop at me, I headed out of the office to take the call. As I walked out I was still glancing over at Norma, and I missed the first part of the message.

All I heard was: ' _body has been found at the docks_ '

I knew. Without even hearing who the body had been identified as, I knew. It would be much too big a coincidence for the body not to be Bob, since that so happens to be where i'd dumped his body after I killed him. The evidence will have been destroyed by now. Nothing could pin me to him, not unless there was footage of me at the docks or anything else I might have been unable to prevent. As long as I acted natural; didn't slip up with alibis or give anything away, everything should be okay. It was just a good job I had experience in this kind of thing. Lying, covering things up. My job description meant I watched it happen all the time; so I witnessed how people slipped up and got found out, I knew what and what not to do. If this had been Bradley Martin's body, which I realised was still a possibility, the situation would be different. Norman was young, inexperienced, probably not as good as covering his tracks. I knew i'd have to get involved in the situation on Norma's behalf, which could end up catastrophic for my career baring in mind the amount of times i'd already covered up all her shit. Whichever way this case went, it was sure to be challenging - if not the most challenging one I have ever or will ever have to handle.

"I'm on my way." I said, hanging up and pushing my phone into my back pocket.


	8. Chapter 8 - Storm

**POV: Norma**

The wall Alex was trying to knock down was one that I wasn't ready to let go of. If he were to find out anything more about me, if any more walls were brought down, it wouldn't be long until it was just me left. So I clung onto those last few secrets like a baby with a blanket, the thought of being in that vulnerable position terrifying me. Him knowing all my secrets, me completely paranoid about what he could do with them or who he would tell. Telling men things about me very rarely ended well, and I wasn't prepared for more stress and heartbreak. It was already too much; all of my problems piling on top of me like I was at the bottom of a garbage pile.

I'd barely talked to anyone about Caleb; only Norman and Dylan. Even then I was as brief as I could possibly be when it came to describing what I went through. Talking about it brought back vivid memories, even thinking about it did. Which is why I tried to avoid it as much as I possibly could.

"Norma?"

As per usual i'd gotten carried away with my thoughts; thrown into my own little mind palace where I stood alone surrounded by my demons. So it took a while before I came back to reality and realised that I wasn't alone in the office. "What?"

"It's just me.." Natalie said, her elbows resting resting on the front desk with her chin resting on her hands. "Did you argue with him?"

"What?" I repeated once again, fully aware that she was in front of me this time but confused as to what she was talking about. I'd been so consumed in my thoughts about Caleb that I worried for a moment that i'd been sharing my thoughts out loud and Natalie had heard the entire thing.

"Alex." She explained with furrowed eyebrows, like as if she was concerned over how out of it I seemed to be. "Did you argue with Alex?"

"Oh-" I let out a breathy laugh, closing my eyes briefly and shaking my head. I was almost amused at my own tendency to lose sense of reality. "Uh...no? I mean, well, I guess. But..."

Her eyebrows furrowed once again, though this was accompanied by slight smile curling up at the corner of her lips. She still looked concerned; but this time also seemed to be amused, perhaps by my lack of ability to decide on an answer.

"I don't know. He just, he said something that uh...it got to me. Hit a nerve, you know? And lets just say I didn't take it too lightly. Thing is I don't even think he _meant_ to upset me, so it was more of a one-sided argument and him looking confused at how pissed I was..." I laughed, but not out of amusement-out of nerves-and subconsciously bit the top of my thumb.

"Oh trust me, I have those kinds of arguments with Alex _all_ the time. You see one of his problems is that a lot of the time he means well, he just doesn't always think enough before he speaks. And especially with you-if you don't mind me speculating-it seems you might be...quite...uh, sensitive?" She said in a cautious tone.

I simply nodded, shamelessly agreeing to the speculation.

"Well, then there you go. You've got a clash on your hands. Guy who says thinks without thinking first, sensitive woman. Bam." She clashed her hands together dramatically. "An argument is _bound_ to happen."

"I am sensitive. I am. I will hold my hands up and admit it. But I think-I don't know. This...this is different. It's something, uh...something that really gets to me." No matter how much I tried to avoid it I could practically _feel_ Nat's gaze on me, pounding on the pressure for me to elaborate further on what I was talking about. "I don't really want to get into it right now. It's just...it's something from my childhood-that Alex actually doesn't even _know_ about, so there's no way he would've used it to upset me. Hence why there was no real need for me to have been so pissy with him."

"I won't pressure you to tell me. But for the record, whatever it is? I think you should tell him. If you guys are-" She removed her hands from underneath her chin briefly, making air quotations with her fingers. "-' _friends_ ' or whatever you call yourselves...then he needs to know what shit makes you upset. Despite my insults towards him, Alex really is a good guy Norma. If he knows what upsets you, he will never speak of it again. And if he brings it up accidentally, he will apologies. Repeatedly, until you get so sick of the sad puppy act that you want to punch him in the face."

I laughed softly, getting the impression Nat's comment was based on personal experience. "Well, I think he probably was trying to apologize..." I trailed off, guiltily biting at my bottom lip and scrunching my nose up. "Kinda cut him off with my cold comments I guess."

Natalie shook her head with a subtle roll of her eyes, removing her hands from underneath her chin. "See-" she tutted. "A clash. But it's not always a bad thing, you know. When people clash. I mean, maybe eventually you guys will bring out the good in each other." She flashed a sneaky smile as she leaned against the wall, folding her arms.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, though also not being able to hide the small hint of a grin that appeared at the corner of my lips. It was obvious that she was sneakily hinting at the possibility of Alex and I ending up together, and I couldn't help but find it amusing. Watching her taking up the role as cupid was funny to me-a nice thought, but it wasn't going to happen. Alex and I couldn't handle one conversation without either arguing, insulting each other, or being awkward. Surely a relationship couldn't come from that. We were too stubborn to admit that we were even at the 'friend' stage, so how could we possibly go any further? We wouldn't. We couldn't. _I_ couldn't. I appreciated Natalie trying though. Maybe she just wanted her brother to be happy. Unfortunately, she only saw the part of me that I allowed her to see. She didn't know what was going on in my head, all the problems that were weighing me down. That would weigh him down. Yes he deserved to be happy, for a smile to permanently make itself home on that otherwise paralysed face of his, but I couldn't make _him_ happy.

After all-how could I make someone else happy, when I can't even make myself happy?

"Got you a present by the way." She said as she shifted her weight off the wall to reach into the bag she had placed on the floor. Thankfully, she'd chosen not to call me out on the fact that i'd avoided her comment completely and got into one of my dreamy trances.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Try not to get _too_ excited now." She lifted the bag out and began to slowly empty the contents, like it was something amazing. Though I knew from the exaggeration that it was going to be something silly. She pulled out two small boxes that contained light bulbs, which i'd needed for one of the rooms for ages.

The realization of how sad a life I had hit me when my eyes practically lit up at this sight. Tightly grabbing her two hands that contained the light bulbs, I smiled brightly at her. "You are a life saver."

"Eh. I know." She grinned.

"Let me get you the money-"

"Norma, chill. It was like 4 dollars, it's not gonna break me."

I groaned, unwilling, but accepting. Natalie was too determined for me to battle with, we'd be here all night. "Fine."

"Ooh." She said as the buzz of her phone sounded, putting the light bulbs down and pulling her hands away from mine to reach into her back pocket. She put her phone down on the desk and opened the text. "Alex-" I could see her eyes scanning the text, but I read it before her, which gave her no time to do as the text instructed.

'Body found at the docks. Come see me - need to talk to you about it. Don't let this get out to anyone else, especially not Norma.'

The minute I saw the combination of 'body found' and 'don't tell Norma' I-probably very rudely-snatched the phone off the desk, holding it up so I could properly read the text.

Nat half-heartedly made a grab for the phone as I snatched it away, sighing in defeat once I made full claim of it. "Ugh. He is going to kill me. Look, i'm not sure what's going on but can you please just stay and-"

I slid her phone back across the desk, watching as she quickly caught it before it fell off the edge. "He's going to kill _you_? _I'm_ going to kill _him_!" I yelled, purposefully speed-walking towards the door.

"What? Norma? Hey! I said stay! Let's just...at least get your coat, or an umbre-"

I slammed the door shut before she could finish. The slam created a loud and dramatic sound with the help of the strong-blowing wind. The weather mirrored the current situation; wind, rain, grey skies-a great storm brewing.

* * *

I knocked on the door of his house, the loss of feeling in my hands preventing me from doing it as dramatically as I wanted to. My anger towards him only grew when the time it took him so reach the door was prolonged, leaving me drenched.

Eventually, _finally_ , he came to the door. His expression dramatically changed the minute he saw me.

"Norma. I, uh, didn't expect you here? Is there a problem?"

"Cut the bullshit, Romero."

"I'm not following..." Confusion spread across his face, and I could've punched him. I _wanted_ to punch him. How dare he stand there and lie to my face? Pretend that my life wasn't about to be completely ruined once and for all?

"Not following my ass..." I scoffed and shook my head. "You know what, you are pathetic. A _hypocrite_. You tell me not to lie to you, then you do the exact same thing?"

He frowned, still sticking to his little act, obviously being cautious in case he blew his cover. I could've waited, made him admit to it. I would, if I didn't feel like I was about to get pneumonia. "You were expecting Nat, weren't you?"

He closed his eyes, a stressed sigh escaping his lips. "She told you. Of course she did."

"No, I just took her phone. You know as Sheriff I thought you'd know better than to think sharing big secrets over the phone would be wise."

"Yeah well, as a motel owner I thought you'd know better than to think invading your guest's privacy is appropriate."

That was it.

My hand struck his cheek sharply, not even one ounce of guilt inside me as I did it.

His face moved in the direction of the slap, lifting his hand up to scuff against his jaw as he looked back towards me. "Was that really necessary?"

"Was it really _necessary_? Alex, I could _kill_ you right now...never mind slap you."

"Listen, you don't even know-"

I pressed my hand against the door firmly and pushed it all the way open, barging past him and into the house. My dramatic rant wasn't having quite have the impact I wanted while I stood there frozen and drenched. "No, you're right. I don't know. Because you never _told_ me. That call you got yesterday, bet that was telling you about the body, wasn't it? Bet you knew, didn't you? You knew and you didn't have the decency to tell me right then and there."

"Norma. Just listen to me." He shut the door, shutting out one brewing storm and closing in another.

"No. _You_ listen to _me_. You _promised_ , Alex. You promised, and I trusted you. Do you even realize how hard it is for me to trust anyone at the moment? How damn paranoid I am about telling anyone anything? But I put it aside, I put my trust in you, because you assured me I had nothing to worry about. You told me that you would handle it, that Bradley wouldn't be found and even if she was you wouldn't let it get out. And what did you do? You broke your promise. You made a promise that I bet you knew you couldn't keep, then didn't even have the decency to tell me about the aftermath. You betrayed me, like every other crappy man in my life has. I thought you were different than the rest of them Alex, but you're _exactly_ the same. You're all the same, all of you."

"Norma-"

Despite trying to hold it back and only show anger, the emotions I was experiencing showed through the crack in my voice. "So what, hm? What now? Let me guess. You have to question her friends, family, everyone that knew her. That includes Norman, right? You'll question him, pretend you don't know what happened, but use the knowledge to your advantage. You'll provoke him until you catch him out and get the truth out of him, right? So you'll get some brownie points from the station? That's how it works?"

He tried to reached for my arm to console me, mouth open like he was ready to interrupt with some pointless excuse. They always had an excuse, and I always fell for it. Not this time. "Don't touch me!" I shrugged my shoulder away from his reach, holding up a finger in a gesture to tell him to let me continue. "Don't even begin to pretend that you understand. I mean, how could you? I have a family, Alex, people that I love. Unlike me, you don't have to deal with the risk of losing everything."

"I don't understand?"

His voice was quiet at first, merely a whisper. I sensed a slight crack in his voice, a flicker of emotion that i'd never seen in him before. Though it was just that, a flicker. Disappeared in a matter of seconds; got masked by anger that I wasn't quite expecting.

"I don't understand?!"

The piercing yell that practically echoed around his house made me flinch, my eyes briefly closing. As I opened my eyes to meet his once again, I noticed that his face was closer to mine now; intimidatingly close. If I hadn't seen the softness in his eyes as they looked directly into mine, I might've been convinced that he might hurt me.

Then his anger showed through again as he averted his eyes, taking a step back from me and scuffing a hand against his jaw. A laugh escaped his lips, though it wasn't a pleasant sound. It was cold; sarcastic. The type of laugh that gave me the idea that there was a sense of irony in what i'd said, like he knew something I didn't.

"You have no idea how wrong you are." His voice was a lot quieter now; like as if he'd realised that his yell had startled me. Though the anger was still there, shown through the low tone to his voice and the look he was giving me.

"No? Then tell me, Alex! Go ahead, tell me how wrong I am. Come on! Feed me your bullshit excuses, I just can't _wait_ to hear them."

He set his hands on my shoulders; firmly but gently at the same time. A gesture to quite literally shake me into shape, not cause me any harm. "For christ's sake Norma! The body-" Starting off with a loud voice, he cleared his throat and slowly lowered his hands from my shoulders. He seemed hesitant to risk causing me any pain, or frighten me any way. That was about the only thing I would give him credit for right now. He sighed in defeat, looking straight at me while he calmly stated; "The body isn't Bradley's"

"What?" I frowned. "No, you're lying. You would have just told me that straight away if that was true. Why would you hide it from me?"

"Because, Norma. No offence? But the minute you walk by something, the minute you get involved-shit goes haywire. I need to sort some things out before you know what's going on."

"Well, _no offence_ , Alex?" I said, sarcastically copying his previous comment. "But I don't really give a shit what's happening in this crappy ass town. As long as it doesn't include or effect my family. Does it?"

"No, it doesn't."

The fact that he was always so emotionless made him difficult to read. Though thankfully, me being paranoid had its perks, as I was easily able to pick up the signs of a lie. He averted his eyes, not looking straight at me as he answered. His answer was fast. Too fast. Like he was trying to dismiss the conversation. "Who is it, Alex."

"Nobody that you need to worry about. I'm taking care of it."

"Oh god, we're back to 'I'm taking care of it'? Why do you always have to say that? Why do you have to act like you think I can't handle it, feel like you have to sugar coat things for me? Just tell me what's going on. If it is going to effect me or my family then I have the right to know." I folded my arms, leaning back against the door to show that I wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"Bob's dead."

The statement came out sooner than i'd expected, and I blinked in reaction to allow myself a moment to process what i'd been told. "Wait, Bob...as in Paris? Bob Paris?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes Norma. What other Bob would I be talking about?"

"Well _I_ don't know, do I? You didn't specify. You could be talking about any Bob. It's a common name." I shrugged. "Who knows, maybe you have an uncle Bob, maybe your neighbour is called Bob, or-"

He held his hand up to interrupt my babbling, an unimpressed expression on his face. "Just-take my word for it, will you? It's Bob Paris, and he's long gone."

"You seen his body in person?"

"Yup."

"And he's been officially identified?"

"Yes."

"...And he's definitely dead?"

"Oh my god, Norma, yes. For christ's sake, you can come and see his decomposed body if you need proof..."

"No..." My face morphed into a look of disgust, and I shook my head violently. "No, i'm good. But...seriously? He's dead? Huh," I raised my eyebrows. "I was sure he was immortal. He seemed to bounce back from everything."

"Yeah well, trust me, he didn't bounce back from this. I did tell you and Nat he wouldn't be coming back, now you know that I meant it."

At first a small smirk tugged at my lips, not being able to help how smug I felt now that Bob had finally got what he deserved. Then something hit me, something that didn't quite add up. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked at Alex in confusion. "But, you didn't know that he was dead then? You only got the call yesterday..."

He stared at me, completely speechless. His mouth dropped open slightly, like as if he was trying to come up with a response. I'd never seen him so lost for words- _desperate_ for words-before. His silence heightened my suspicion, and I stepped slightly closer. Invading his personal space, leaving him with nowhere to go or look. "Unless you did know."

"I think you should go-" He reached behind me, grabbing the door handle and beginning to open the door slowly.

I pressed my hand against the door firmly, pushing against his force to shut the door before he could open it fully.

After our forces battling and mine eventually winning, his hand was pulled forward with the door and he stumbled forward slightly. The distance between us was now minuscule. Looking at his face I could tell he was intimidated by the lack of personal space; he knew that in this moment he wouldn't be able to lie to me. He knew there was no getting out of this.

"Did you do it?"

"Did I do what?"

I tilted my head, refusing to even say the words because he damn well knew what I was talking about. "Stop playing games, Alex. We've come too far. Did you do it?"

"I think you know the answer to that, Norma. If i'm playing a game then you're playing it too."

I'd expected him to deny it. That maybe he'd say 'of course not' and give me some other explanation. Instead, he'd basically indirectly admitted to it. For some reason, I was surprised, Alex was the Sheriff, so sure, handling people who did bad things was his job. He'd always seemed to me the type to keep things professional, though. Not take things to a personal level. Unless it was for self defence purposes, then killing Bob would count as taking things to a personal level. I couldn't imagine Bob trying to hurt Alex though, because the thing with Bob is that his bark was bigger than his bite. He could threaten to kill you, strangle you to death, shoot you, but he'd never actually do it. He would get someone else to do it maybe, but never actually inflict any physical pain himself. His specialty was messing with your mind, and though he was annoyingly good at it, that's as far as he would go. He was a coward.

"Who knows?"

"Nobody. Just you, even though you weren't _actually_ supposed to find out yet. That's it." He sighed once again, shaking his head. He looked annoyed. Clearly he hadn't wanted to tell me, but i'd pushed him to the limit.

"You're keeping it a secret-that means it wasn't out of self defence, right? What, did you just do it because you were sick of his shit?" A sort of half-smirk played on my lips, and I playfully tilted me head.

"See, this is why I didn't tell you. This is serious, Norma! Do you hear me? Nobody can know."

"I'm not stupid. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your dirty little secret." I kept the sly grin on my face at first, but then it morphed into something of a serious expression. "Anyway, i'm pretty sure I owe you my word on that after everything you've done for me and my family."

I held out my hand, a peace offering-a promise.

He looked at me; unsure, cautious. Hesitant to put his trust in me. I raised my hand closer to him and looked straight into his eyes, nodding encouragingly.

"I trusted you, now you trust me."

At that he finally he took my hand, and I shook hands with him. Putting another hand on top of his, I gave it a reassuring squeeze and looked at him directly once again. "You have my word."

I was so bitter from having numerous people ruin my life that having the power of ruining someone else's felt dangerous to me. That if things got any worse, I might spread what I know about Alex so someone knew how it felt. Though somehow, the thought of making Alex's life difficult didn't appeal to me at all. It would've done not so long ago, and I was unsure as to what had changed.

"It's really bad out there," He stated, completely changing the subject. Rolling my eyes slightly, I peeked through the gap in the curtains and saw that the weather was even worse than it'd been previously. "You didn't even bring a jacket?" He asked, and I followed his gaze as his eyes scanned my body.

"Nope." I shrugged. "Crazy the things you do when you're angry, huh?"

 _Like kill a man_ , I thought, making my thoughts clear by the amused look on my face.

"Mm." He narrowed his eyes, clearly seeing the connection I was making.

I nodded towards the brown leather jacket that i'd spotted draped over the sofa in the distance. "Will you lend me your jacket?"

The jacket would act as a promise. On his part. It meant that he'd have to come back, that he couldn't just drop this secret on me and not avoid talking to me about it.

He blinked a few times and laughed-I assumed at my bluntness-then walked over to the sofa to pick up the jacket. He walked back over to the doorway, handing the jacket over to me. "It doesn't have a hood..."

"I'm well aware. Knowing you, I pretty much doubt you own one that does." I speculated, taking the jacket from him. "It'll do to keep me warm. Thanks."

"No problem. See you, uh, whenever.." He'd need the jacket, surely. So it'd be soon when I next saw him, i'd make sure of that. There was still so much I wanted to know, so much I _needed_ to know. I'd squeeze it out of him if I had to. For now though, I was willing to give him time to 'sort some things out', as he said he'd needed to.

I nodded at him, opening the door and looking back with a faint smile. "Bye..." It seemed odd that we'd gone from a yell and a slap at the door, to a huge reveal-that Alex had killed Bob, to him borrowing me his jacket and me smiling at him. But that was us, that was our relationship.

Messy, ever-changing, unpredictable. _Impossible_.

I waited until I stepped outside and closed the door behind me to put his jacket on. For some reason the thought of putting it on in front of him felt weird; embarrassing. Giving a girl your jacket was the typical romantic move, and it wasn't like that at all. I mainly took it so he'd have a reason to come back, not because I was so cold that I needed a big strong man's jacket. I wouldn't deny how comforting it was to wear it, though. The warmth that it brought to my shivering body the minute I shrugged it on, along with the surprisingly pleasant smell of his aftershave left on it.

Rain still violently pouring down in cold icy pellets, I made a run for it and hurried towards my car; ducking in and starting the engine.


	9. Chapter 9 - Secrets & Lies

**POV: Alex**

Almost the second the door shut and Norma walked out, I sat down, popped open a bottle of bourbon, and began to wash it all away. The worry, panic, regret. A common running theme of feelings at the moment, I realised.

I hadn't planned to tell her everything; hell, I hadn't planned to tell her _anything_. I don't even know what my plan was initially. Well, non-existent, that's what. Knowing Norma I thought that if I told her everything, she'd freak out, and she'd blab. Ruin everything. Though somehow, when I looked into her eyes and she held my hand and insisted I could trust her, I truly did. Manipulation was something she was all too capable of, but this time I chose to believe that she really was being honest with me. _For once_.

It'd only been a few hours since Norma had been here; heading off to the motel already would make me look too eager, surely. The visit I was tempted to make wouldn't be to see Norma though, so it wouldn't look so bad. I still needed to speak to Nat about the whole situation with Bob; but then again, considering the unexpected friendship her and Norma seemed to have developed, I had no doubt she'd go and tell her everything anyway. It was odd, seeing my sister and Norma getting along so well. Sad, actually, because they seemed to get along better with each other than I did with either of them.

 _Screw it_.

I was only a sip or two into my first glass of bourbon, it wasn't ridiculously late, and I wanted to speak to Nat. As I got up from the sofa, I went to reach for the no-longer-existent jacket that'd previously been draped over the sofa, yet had now been claimed by a certain blonde. A quiet laugh escaped my lips; amused at both myself for reaching for the jacket out of habit, despite it's obvious absence, and at the memory of how blunt Norma had been when she asked me to lend it to her.

When I pulled up at the motel, I saw the light in Room 7 flick on. It was very difficult to subtly turn up to the Bates Motel; I imagined the sound of tyres scraping the gravel must echo around the entire area. As I stepped out of the truck, the door to Natalie's room simultaneously opened. She sat herself down on one of the chairs sat on the porch just outside her room, tapping the one next to her and crossing her legs.

"Norma told you?" I asked, slumping down into the seat next to her.

"That you bumped off BP? Yup," She nodded, grinning mischievously. "Nice one, Al." She held her hand up in front of me; as if she was waiting for a high five.

"Keep your voice down." I shot her a stern glare, touching the top of her hand and beginning to lower it.

"Oh come on. Who's gonna hear me, the raccoons?" She rolled her eyes, bringing her hand down and stubbornly folding her arms.

We were quiet for a few minutes, awkwardly and stubbornly not talking to each other. Getting consumed in listening to the only sound there seemed to be in that moment; crickets chirping, I was surprised when she spoke up again.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

I simply frowned; assuming she was on about Norma since she was the only 'her' in my life but still confused as to why she randomly brought her up. She rolled her eyes. "I'm talking about _Norma_." She said, as if she thought that'd cure my confusion. It didn't.

"What about-"

 _Speak of the devil_.

The sound of heels crushing the gravel could be heard from where we were sat. The sound was distant, so there was no chance of her hearing what Nat had said-or certainly nor clearly, but her arrival did give me an excuse to avoid the question.

"You're back already?" She said almost smugly, her voice getting gradually louder as she came closer to us-directing her question at me.

I sat up properly in my seat, nervously placing my hands down on the arms of the chair. "Yeah, uh, just came to speak to Natalie is all." I insisted, which was mainly true. Of course seeing Norma was a bonus, not like i'd let her know or think that.

"And now Natalie is tired, so Natalie is going to bed." Nat said, humorously referring to herself in the third person. "Night folks." She squeezed my shoulder before she stood up, smiling at Norma briefly and walking towards her room.

"Goodnight! Sleep well." Norma smiled kindly at her, giving a small wave before wrapping her cardigan tightly around her body.

I watched Nat as she went back into her room, turning back to Norma once the door closed. Noticing her shivering, I looked at her with a subtly amused expression on my face and gestured towards what she was wearing. "My jacket not good enough?"

"Eh," She shrugged. "Good for warmth but pretty crappy in the rain. I've had it drying for _hours_ and it still feels like it's been dropped in the ocean and pulled back out again."

"To be fair Norma, it's not actually _meant_ for protection from torrential rain. Did warn you about that."

"Never said you didn't, just giving an honest review." She stated with a nod; acting as if this was a serious situation and she was a business woman giving feedback on my product. I simply shook my head and looked away, amused at her seriousness.

After a moment of silence, she curiously tilted her head. She didn't have to say a word and already I knew she had a question; most likely one I wouldn't want to answer. "Alex?" She said, a questioning but innocent tone to her voice.

"Yeah?"

She shifted her weight onto her other leg, folding her arms over her chest. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked, repeating what i'd said to her just a few hours ago, for humour more than anything. Of course I knew full well what she was referring to.

She scoffed and shook her head, not amused by my attempt to make her laugh but clearly aware that that's what I was doing. "Enough."

"Alright. Because-well, because he's Bob Paris, that's why. We all know he had it coming, and if it wasn't me...soon enough it'd have been someone else."

" _Alex_." She said with that almost flirtatious tone; persuasive, intoxicating, hypnotising, yet at the same time adorable. She took a step closer, scanning my face in search of an answer. "It's more than that, come on. You don't just go and kill someone out of the blue because they piss you off..."

"It's late. We'll talk about this another time, alright? Don't worry about the jacket, i'll pick it up tomorrow." I insisted, brushing my shoulder past hers and starting to walk away.

"No," She put her hand on my shoulder, tilting my body back to face her and speaking authoritatively. "We'll talk about it _now_."

It seemed that time was on my side tonight; because yet again, we were interrupted before I had to say anything. I quickly located the source of the sound, spotting a police car pulling up into the parking area. I glanced at the car in confusion for a moment, turning back to Norma who seemed to look terrified.

"Uh," I frowned, placing a comforting hand on her arm briefly. "Don't worry. Wait here. I'm going to see what's going on, alright?"

I walked over to the car, ducking down to meet eye level with the officer in the car.

"Sheriff." Deputy Lin said, a surprised yet at the same time not-at-all surprised tone to her voice. "Well, you were my second stop, but since you're both here at the same time I guess we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Kill two birds huh? So what, you want to question us?"

"That was the plan, yes. Are you refusing?"

"Not at all. I just don't understand what possesses you to want to question _me_."

 _Because obviously, Deputy Lin, I am completely and utterly innocent. It's not like I killed the guy, and the other woman you're wanting to question is basically the reason I did it. Not at all._

"Being the Sheriff doesn't exclude you, sir. We're questioning anyone who may have reasoning to hurt Bob Paris, and although we might not know enough about your relationship with him to label you as a suspect, we know enough to know that you're worth questioning. As i'm sure you're well aware, we've not had much luck with anyone else."

"Right," I nodded. "Fair enough."

"It's been brought to our attention that there has recently been some conflict between him and , do you know if that's correct?"

"Well, I know that she-"

"-Can answer for herself." Norma's voice came from behind me. There was a blunt and somewhat sassy tone to her voice as she spoke, and she shot me a bitter-yet at the same time reassuring-glare, almost as if to signal that she didn't want or need my help. "Yes, that is correct."

"And are you going to object to coming down to the station for some questions?"

"Nope." She said, and I inwardly praised her. The question sounded like an open one, but in reality, any other answer to that question would land her straight into the suspect list. That was the best way to deal with this situation; to go along with it without showing any signs of nerves, hold back her usual sassy and intolerant attitude-because that could make her appear like a suspect. Not like she had anything to worry about; after all this was my burden, not hers.

I was still the Sheriff, still her boss, so although Lin rarely showed signs of caring about me in any way, she still held respect for me. She didn't say much about the fact she wanted to question me, or make it a big thing. She just let Norma slide into the back seat and opened the passenger side door, gesturing for me to get in. Thing was that neither of us were prepared for this. We didn't have the 'say this' and 'don't say this' conversation beforehand. I quickly glanced in the front mirror, catching her looking in the same direction. Seemed she was looking for some form of reassurance too, so I nodded and she nodded back. It was like some form of mental communication; even just from that nod I felt like-or at least hoped-it was a 'Don't worry, me and my blabber mouth will be quiet' sort of promise.

 **POV: Norma**

As I sat down in the interview room, I placed my shaking hands down on the table in front of me. I wasn't sure why I was so terrified; I think it was the fear of the unknown. I had no idea what i'd be asked, whether i'd end up answering everything truthfully or if i'd be put on the spot with something and have to lie. There was also the fact that i'd only really been used to being questioned by Alex; which over the years, had become less and less daunting. Now, I was being questioned by someone that I didn't know, someone that I wasn't comfortable around and that I wasn't sure I could trust.

As the door opened then slammed shut again, so did my eyes. I'd been closed in, and in some odd way it made me panic. I felt like I was trapped, like I could so easily slip up and say something that would ruin everything and there'd be no escaping it.

"So," Deputy Lin said, sitting down and shifting her weight forward in her seat slightly. "Bob had a lot of enemies. We've questioned a few, and your name has cropped up a few times. You and him don't see eye to eye, no?"

"I wouldn't say that. I mean we weren't exactly best buddies but we weren't enemies either. Somehow something that belonged to him ended up in my possession, I didn't even know what it was at first but he-"

"Ah, the flash drive, yes."

 _Well yes, I was getting there, annoying Deputy woman._

"That's it, yeah."

"Are you aware of the DEA's involvement in that situation?"

"From Alex-uh, Sheriff Romero. Yeah." He briefly mentioned handing over the flash drive to the DEA. That night where we'd fought, if I remembered rightly. Really fought, too. I'd hit him, more times than i'd planned to for that matter, and I certainly wasn't proud of it. I mentally gave him credit for the fact that, practically the exact second i'd asked him not to touch me, he took his hands off me like I was a freaking hot potato. That kindness actually had me feeling guilty after I left his house, since just a few seconds before I ordered him not to touch me, he'd been standing there letting himself be my punching bag.

"Mm." She muttered, the kind of tone to her voice that made it clear she was making a mental note. Perhaps she'd found me calling him by his first name suspicious, though I wasn't quite sure why. There was no relevance to that whatsoever. She was just looking out for signs, I suspected. Desperately picking out little details that she thought might be relevant, simply because she longed for the satisfaction of solving a big case like this. Probably wanted Alex's job, but I couldn't see that happening. No way. She was nowhere near as good as him. Though I wouldn't necessarily label that as a compliment towards him either; mainly because my meaning of 'good' was that he was _smart_ \- _annoyingly_ smart. He always had been, and it drove me insane. Every time he'd question you he'd give you this look that had you convinced he suspected something, that he _knew_ something. It'd make you act differently and probably appear more suspicious; being more cautious of what you say, thinking through every word. He had this ability to intimidate you; to the point where you'd feel guilty even if you had nothing to be guilty _of_. His deputy was trying to adapt that strategy but it clearly wasn't working for her. Only suited him; him and his stoic attitude and the mysteriousness that surrounded him. Despite only living here for a few years, and going on and on about how smug and irritating and miserable I found Alex, I hated the idea of someone else taking over his job. He was the Sheriff. _Only him._

It was quiet for a moment, yet she didn't take her eyes off me, and it was quite possibly the most awkward and uncomfortable minute of my life. She finally spoke up, and I realised that I probably wasn't hiding my amused smirk over how long it'd taken her to conjure up another question. "The DEA made a plan of action to storm Bob's house but when they and Sheriff Romero got to the house it was empty. Did he tell you about that?"

"He did. I wasn't surprised, y'know. Bob seems to show up when you don't want him and disappear when you do. Typical really." I shrugged. My first lie, I realised. Wasn't sure where it came from; I felt like I was finding her so irritating that I almost wanted to lie to her. Just so I could have the satisfaction of watching her believe me when I knew full well I was lying.

"So you saw him that night?"

"Who, Bob?"

"No, no no. Sheriff Romero - I mean."

"Oh! Yeah. Yeah, I saw him."

"He came to you after going to Bob's house?"

"Yes."

 _Shit._

 **POV: Alex**

Deputy Walker sat across from me, asking questions that as he was asking them felt like they didn't come from him. He wasn't as focused as Deputy Lin was, who in my opinion still wasn't properly up for the job yet either. The re-election was coming up soon and with everything going on I couldn't be certain i'd be kept on, so it did cross my mind every now and then who'd take my place. The only advice i'd give to anyone who may end up stepping in as Sheriff would be: don't get yourself invested in a frustrating, crazy-yet unbelievably intoxicating-woman, with chaos swirling all around her. Doesn't half get you into some shit, probably lose you your job. _Good luck_.

"So, sir. The night you accompanied the DEA to storm Bob's home. Where did you go after that?"

 _Well, Walker, I went right where I knew he'd be heading. I made my way onto his boat, waited there until he got there. Always liked the element of surprise. Then Bob came aboard, and we talked, and he was his usual self, and-_

"I went home."

"Straight away?"

"Straight away." I answered, ironically, straight away.

The door opened, and one of the assistants came through. She whispered into Walker's ear, who then looked at me curiously. "Well we have new information claiming you were with that night, at her house. Is that correct?"

Typical. I closed my eyes, inhaling sharply and sitting back in my seat. Everything would've been fine. I was lying my way through everything, going unsuspected. Then she had to ruin it. I couldn't now just say that their 'new information' wasn't true. That'd make both me and Norma look suspicious. So I had no choice but to play along.

"She said that?"

"You seem surprised. Why?"

I paused; not making it look like I was thinking too hard but still allowing myself a moment to come up with a convincing excuse. "Because I didn't think she would reveal that. I didn't think it was important or relevant enough to have to bring up, that's why I didn't mention it."

"Anything is bad to hide in a situation like this Sheriff, no matter how little a detail it is. You should know that more than anyone. So there must be a reason why you wouldn't want to mention going to her house." He sat forward slightly in his seat, pushing me for an answer.

"She didn't want anyone knowing, especially not her sons. When I went to her house she was alone, nor her sons or anyone else knew that i'd been there and she wanted it kept that way. That's why I never said anything, and that's why i'm surprised that she did." That was about all I could conjure up.

"Are you implying that you're in an intimate relationship with Mrs Bates?"

I'd realised after his question that that was the story I seemed to have built up in my head as an explanation, even if I wasn't as specific in what i'd said than he was. I was somewhat building off my own fantasy, but no, now i'd just made it out to be a fact. In that moment, all I could do was sit there, dumbstruck by the bluntness of the question and clueless as I thought over how to answer it without taking the lie too far.

"Sheriff Romero?" Walker questioned me further, raising his eyebrows as he awaited my response.


	10. Chapter 10 - No Turning Back

**Author's Note: So, on my Wattpad page, i'd actually posted this chapter months ago. I usually used to upload a chapter on each website at the same time, since I knew people who had a preference for and the same for some with Wattpad. Somehow I must've missed out uploading this chapter here! I've been receiving some lovely reviews on this fanfic lately urging me to update, and it's tempted me to do just that. I gave up on this story due to college getting on top of me as it was exam season, but now i'm all done and am also suffering with the heartbreak of the ending of Season 4 as we all are - so I thought screw it, perhaps i'll give this another try. I have the power to keep our dear Norma alive, y'know, so I gotta use it. My fear had been that people wouldn't be interested now since the story is outdated a little since it's far before Alex and Norma's marraige, etc - started merely from the Season 3 finale and had been my own spin on the events after it. Hopefully people will still enjoy since I feel like we're all kind of trying to forget that the latter half of Season 4 even happened, so maybe this will help - we shall see!**

* * *

 **POV: Alex**

* * *

Norma had come out of questioning before I had, standing just outside the room i'd been in. As I got let out, I waited until Deputy Lin had walked off in the opposite direction to turn to Norma and say;

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Well," She let out an amused huff, shrugging her shoulders. "Debatable, I guess." It seemed she wasn't interested in having this conversation with me, as she immediately darted off down the corridor in the form of a sassy strut.

"Rhetorical question, Norma, you are out of your mind!" I said with a slightly raised voice, making sure she heard me while also trying not to shout to the point where it echoed down the entire corridor.

"Oh, you mean for saving both our asses? Yeah you're welcome." She uttered sarcastically as she continued strutting down the corridor. I followed, attempting to keep up with her speed while also trying not to look like a puppy tailing along behind it's owner.

"Saving-" I shook my head, a sarcastic laugh escaping my lips. "Please, Norma, you did no saving. All you did was drop us in it even further. Do you know they think the two of us are together now?"

 _Now_ she decided to listen. She turned around and stopped abruptly in her tracks, almost causing me to bump into her. "They think _what_?"

"Yeah, thought that'd catch your attention. You see the impact of what you did now?" I brushed past her small frame and pushed open the door just ahead of us, walking outside the station. Now the tables had turned; _I_ was in front of _her_ , leading _her_ , and _she_ was the abandoned puppy trailing behind. Somehow it was a satisfying feeling; felt like I was the one in position of power. She wanted to talk to _me_ now, and now she'd experience how irritating it was for someone to walk away as you're trying to have a conversation with them.

"Well why in the heck do they think that?" Her voice was raised; louder but also higher, almost like a squeak. A quiet and almost just as high-pitched noise escaped her lips just after; a sound that resembled a huff, the offended kind. I looked back to see the reasoning of such a noise; watching her as she just about managed to squeeze through the gap after i'd opened the door, blatantly offended that I hadn't held it open for her. It was an amusing sight to say the least, and I had to turn away to hide the amusement on my face as it was highly likely i'd receive nothing short of a punch to the face if she saw.

"Because, Norma, you put me-" Someone from the office came through the door just after Norma, and I briefly stopped what I was saying. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her to the side away from prying eyes. I lowered my voice incase our conversation was heard; although still holding a stern tone to make sure my message was received. "You put me in a difficult position. You put forward information about my whereabouts that didn't match up to what I said, so obviously that's going to look suspicious. All I did was patch up your mess, so in actual fact, you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? _Thanking_ you?! Alex, the entire station now think that we-"

"Norma we've only just left, I doubt the entire-"

She held up a finger to silence me, raising her voice as she repeated what she'd started to say before I interrupted. "-The _entire_ station...now think that we are having some scandalous love affair! What were you thinking? I mean really, Alex, do you honestly think you and I could ever pass off as a couple? Or even anything close?"

"They don't need to see it to believe it, as long as they think it's true that's enough."

"Well what the hell was the point then?!" She inquired, once again raising her voice; her tone more harsh and angry than the squeak that'd escaped her mouth previously. "Why couldn't you have just said that you came over as my friend? What would've been wrong with that? Us being in a relationship doesn't make us look any less suspicious than if we were only friends!"

"I don't have friends; that's what's wrong with that." The comment wasn't a beg for sympathy, merely a fact. Not even one that bothered me, really. "And remember, this the people I _work_ with i'm talking about. They are well aware that I lack a social life. Besides, if it was nothing more than a friend going to see a friend then they'd be suspicious as to why I didn't mention it. I went with what I knew they'd buy, and it worked. You want to be pissed at me for my choice of alibi, then be my guest, but know that i've been Sheriff here for way longer than you've even lived here. I have experience in this shit, I know how it all works, so I did what I thought was best."

"Well you should've-" She began ranting, her voice lowering and eventually coming to a stop. Not like Norma, I thought. Then I realised that there was a reason she decided to shut up when I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Sorry to interrupt. I thought i'd best ask, do the two of you need dropping back?" We both turned around to see Deputy Lin standing in front of us.

Seemed oddly nice of her, I thought, but then again it was the honourable thing to do. She'd brought us here, so obviously we would have no other transport back-besides walking, which i'm sure we'd have managed, but it would've been tiring. Difficult too at this time of night, perhaps even dangerous.

"Yeah, actually, thanks." I nodded, and I could see Norma in the corner of my eye reluctantly agreeing in the form of a nod after I had. She didn't seem to like Deputy Lin, though then again she never really seemed to like anyone.

She reached into her back pocket for her keys, looking between the both of us. "Back to the Bates Motel is it?"

"I think that was the plan, yeah?" I looked towards Norma, placing my hand on her back. It'd seem like a comforting gesture to anyone else; which it half was, but it was mainly my way of urging Norma to respond accordingly.

Despite my encouragement, her reply was still delayed; not seeming eager to play her part. For once, a game that she didn't want to play.

She glanced up at me briefly with a small smile, then towards Deputy Lin. "Yes, please. That would be great." The smile she flashed at me might have looked like one of admiration to Deputy Lin; but I knew it held a 'You owe me for this' message behind it.

"Alright then. Follow me." She began walking, spinning her keys around her finger as she led us towards the car she'd escorted us here in.

We both followed her, my hand staying resided in it's place on Norma's lower back as we walked. Deputy Lin opened the door to the backseat and gestured for the both of us to get in. I pushed my hand against Norma's back just slightly, allowing her to get in the car first. I sat down after her, tucking my legs under the front seat as the door was closed.

Our 'argument', although that was a slight exaggeration, would have to remain on hold. We could hardly argue about the lies we'd told about each other in front of the woman who'd been made to believe them. I was sure Norma would already be making mental notes of the points she'd want to make the next time this running argument was triggered; all the things wrong with my method of saving her ass from a lie that could've gotten her into shit. I had my own responses saved, perhaps ones i'd never actually use more than anything. Anger-driven ones filled with bluntly told truth, self-pitying ones that practically begged for at least a small ounce of recognition for all that I did for her and her family, the revealing type that'd show my feelings for her; hinting at why I constantly saved her ass like this. It seemed that I was full of words i'd never say to her; ones that were too revealing of my feelings, and sometimes, my mind drifted to a place where I wondered if she was in the same boat. Probably not.

Considering there wasn't much we could say to each other in front of prying eyes, the car was silent for the most part of the journey. Silence was something I relished in, so it honestly didn't bother me. Norma, however, was a different story. Being the type to never shut up; you could imagine that situations like these must make her feel entirely uncomfortable. So much so, actually, that it seemed she was trying to do anything she could think of that created some kind of sound. First it was a quiet hum; subtle and soft, but easily audible in such a compact space. That was fine; bearable, actually close to being rather adorable. Then she raised her arm and rested her elbow on the frame of the window, tapping her fingers against the plastic that held the window into the door. Nearing irritating; but still, nothing shy of the usual Bates behaviour. Then she flipped up the unaccompanied seatbelt buckle in the middle of the two of us, pushing her thumb down on the red button and lifting it up again, resulting in a clicking sound; repeating the action over and over again. Fourth click in, and that was enough. Throughout her entire car orchestra performance, she'd been in a trance out of the window, blatantly unable to see any of my hints at being irritated. The moment I saw her reach for her fifth click, I decided enough was enough, and reached my hand over and closed it over hers.

"Jesus, Norma, enough. Please."

"Sorry..." She mumbled apologetically, and I couldn't help but find the look of embarrassment on her face truly adorable. I was quick to assume that the noise-making was something she did purposely to irritate me, as it was no secret that that was an enjoyable activity for her, but perhaps this was actually an exception to that. Perhaps what she was doing was simply an automatic reflex by her subconscious; an urge to fill the awkward silence with something, anything.

I dismissed her apology with a shake of my head, releasing my grip on her hand and bringing my arm back to rest casually on the surface of the seat next to me. "It's alright."

Norma simply nodded, going back to gazing out of the window but unable to be quiet for too long. This time, thankfully, she refrained from the annoying noise and decided to actually speak up instead.

"Oh yeah, by the way, you can come pick up your jacket when we get back. God it's gonna gather _dust_ if it stays with me any longer." Throughout her sentence, her voice consciously descended from a normal noise level to a mere whisper, peering up into the rear view mirror as she neared the end of her sentence. Her facial expression merged into one of subtle distaste as she realised that it seemed our conversation was being watched by Deputy Lin.

"Christ. Will you be quiet about that damn jacket?" I shook my head, not being able to prevent the quirk at the corners of my lips in amusement. "It's only been with you a few hours."

"Still," She shrugged. "It's yours. There is no way you can go to work tomorrow without it. I mean-Alex Romero, big daddy of White Pine Bay, without his staple brown leather jacket? Even the thought, it's tragic." She teased, pressing her hand to her chest like the thought really was tragic.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head once again-though this time out of disgust rather than amusement. "I thought that nickname died out."

"You know, I thought so too, but then I remembered how funny your pained expression the first time round was..." She tilted her head, like as if she were reminiscing. "And yep. Just as funny the second time. I'm satisfied now though so you're good for a while."

"Oh great, thanks. Much appreciated." I nodded, looking out the window.

The car went silent again then; this time staying that way for the rest of the journey back. No annoying noises, no talking, in fact-no anything. It was an odd silence; unnatural with Norma sat in the car. I thought nothing of it as I sat there watching the world go by through the car window, and it was only when we pulled up to the motel that I realised why the car had been so silent-why _she_ had been so silent.

"Here we are, guys."

Deputy Lin announced, breaking the silence in the car.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Norma's whole body jolt forward slightly. I turned to look at her properly; watching as she sheepishly brushed her stray blonde curls behind her ears and cleared her throat. Quirking an eyebrow, I kept my voice to a low and quiet tone as I posed the question; "Did you just fall asleep?"

She frowned at me, straightening herself up. "No..."

"Hmm," I snickered and shook my head, opening my door. "Of course not." I spoke down to her with subtle sarcasm as I stepped out of the car, peering over into the front seat to address Deputy Lin. "Thanks for the lift, Patty, we really appreciate it."

Norma stepped out of the other side of the car after me, shutting it behind her. " _We_ really appreciate it..." She rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly. "I am my own person, you know."

"And you'd have thanked her if I hadn't, would you?" The car drove away just after Norma shut the back door and I began walking towards my own car, looking back at Nowith a subtly amused expression as I awaited her response.

"Yeah!" She said in a high-pitched tone; the type she used when she was blatantly lying, but the situation wasn't serious enough for her to care about me noticing.

"Hmm, alright." I narrowed my eyes and nodded; completely unconvinced. I reached around in my back pocket for my keys; and the key for Room 11 just so happened to come out along with it. I went to shove it back in my pocket, then hesitated for a moment. "Uh, hey-" My eyebrows knitted together and I turned around to look at Norma, the key for Room 11 hooked around my finger. "I still have this, sorry. Should've given it back to you after I left." I walked over to her, dropping the key into her palm. "Think I must've got so used to the routine of taking it everywhere that I forgot I needed to give it back to you-I wasn't an official guest, you know, so it wasn't like I had a check out time."

"Alex," She shook her head, as if to dismiss what I was saying before I could even properly finish. "I don't want it back. Do you not think i'd have stormed over to your house and demanded you give it back to me by now if I did?"

My expression morphed from one of guilt into one of confusion. How could she not be bothered that I kept one of the keys to the motel-her business? What would happen if the motel suddenly started getting busy, say all the rooms went and the only option left was Room 11-what would she say?

' _Oh, I apologize, you can't have this room, the Sheriff has the key for it. No no, he's not actually staying here. Not at the moment anyway-sure, it's his home away from home sometimes, but he just comes and goes when he pleases really. Oh yeah and he doesn't pay me for it, either._ '

She'd already complained numerous times about how her business was plummeting and pinned the blame on herself, so it certainly wouldn't do her any favours to show signs of being irresponsible or unprofessional as a businesswoman.

"I can't just keep it, Norma, that's ridiculous. I'm not even _staying_ here."

"Sorry, who runs this place again?" She raised her eyebrows, cupping her hand over her ear as she veered closer to me to hear my answer.

"Yeah, alright, _you_...but that's what i'm saying. This is your motel and you can't just-" I began, brought to a stop when she put a hand on my arm.

"Shut up, keep the key, use it whenever you need it. Okay?" She said sternly, placing the key into my palm and pushing my hand close to my chest. I didn't utter a reply, simply sighed-both out of defeat and annoyance.

" _Okay_?!" She repeated moments later, and my eyes shut briefly in reaction to her sudden yell.

"Alright!" I agreed in an irritated tone, knowing that she wouldn't shut up until she was certain that i'd do what she said. "For christ's sake, alright. I'll keep the damn key."

She flashed an irritatingly satisfied smile, pulling her hand away from my arm and stepping back so we were at a normal distance from each other again. "Good."

As I began backing towards the SUV, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I stopped in my tracks for a moment and pulled it out, allowing my tired eyes time to adjust to the bright screen. As soon as I read the text that popped up, a groan escaped my lips that I didn't realise was audible.

"What?"

"Just work-"

She raised her eyebrows, as if she was waiting for me to elaborate further.

"Nothing about tonight, don't worry." I shook my head. _Nothing you care about_ , I may as well have said. "I've gotta go in earlier tomorrow morning, that's all. Would've had an earlier night had I known earlier, but whatever. I rarely ever get much sleep anyway."

"Well," she paused "The offer's still there if you want to make use of your key..." She trailed off and shrugged, holding her hands up in the air. "You wouldn't have to drive back then, you can just head straight off to sleep." She said, wiggling her fingers in motion of a running man then pointing over to Room 11.

"Uh..." I thought about it, looking back to the SUV then to Room 11.

"Oh for god's sake-" She rolled her eyes at me. "You know it's _obviously_ going to be easier. Honestly, you're making out like it's a life changing decision. It's one freaking night, not an eternity. Stop being a drama queen and just go to your room."

"Right, alright, fine. Yeah-I guess it makes sense."

Still with an unimpressed expression on her face, she began to walk away, shaking her head. She span on her heel to look back at me, blonde curls flowing with the movement. "Is there anything you need before I go up to the house?"

"Don't think so..."

"Wait, let me guess-privacy? For me to not do your laundry? I actually think i've got all your rules and regulations memorised by now..." She snorted.

"Mm. Still don't go by them though." I stated flatly, watching the smug smile on her face dramatically disappear and morph into an offended frown.

She turned away from me and began to walk, then stopped in her tracks once again; looking back at me simply to tut and shake her head disapprovingly at my comment. She'd already reacted once, but obviously it hadn't been quite enough. She then turned her back to me again and continued her walk up to the house. "Night." She said bluntly; a quiet and muffled sound due to the growing distance between us as she headed off up to the house.

I snickered, shaking my head. "Goodnight, Norma."

I wondered how long she'd trick me into staying with her this time, how long she'd keep me around to be her loyal protector-or more so; her bulletproof vest. Seemed to me that I was merely the wall that prevented her from being hurt; and that my destruction wouldn't mean a thing to her.

' _Well it looks like it went right through you_ '

She'd said when I got shot; told her I could've died. Looking back that was a blatant beg for her sympathy on my part, but in fairness to the past self-pitying Alex, my statement was true. I could've died, if the bullet had just been an inch closer to my heart, I could've. And it was highly likely that she probably wouldn't even have blinked an eye.

Thing is, at this point, none of that mattered. The woman could probably try to kill me herself and i'd still end up pulling up in her motel car park the day later. Her grip on the chains that had a hold of me were tightening by the second. No matter what she said, no matter what she did, I never strayed from the path that lead to her. Never once took any other turning. Every lie I told, every choice-every mistake-I made; it was all for her.

And there wasn't a pause button, nor a rewind.

 _There was no turning back_.


	11. Chapter 11 - Coffee

**POV: Norma**

Since Natalie came to the motel and Alex left, she'd replaced him as the early-morning visitor into the office. The two of us were very different people, and at first glance, i'd never have imagined we'd get along. In fact, unfortunately, i'd automatically judged her simply based on her looks. Perfectly curled hair, tight fitting clothing, far from practical high heels and and manicured hands. I thought to myself, she's one of _those_ women. The ex high school it-girl kind of woman. The kind who'd look you up and down with a look of disgust if you're wearing something that strays even the slightest bit off the latest trend. The kind that, despite either being the same age or younger than you, spoke down to you like you were a little child. The kind that would touch your shoulder and flash a far from genuine smile and say 'It's okay. I'm sure you'll find someone one day' when you reveal that you are in fact single in your forties. At this point I was full of guilt, though, because not one bit of her truly fit that stereotype. Visibly she did; I definitely still held a lot of jealousy over her appearance. She must've been a couple of years older than me, yet she looked a lot younger. In fairness, she probably hadn't dealt with the amount of stress and heartbreak that I had; so her features lacked the exhaustion that dominated mine. However she definitely subverted the stereotype i'd mentally built up for her. She was kind, caring, had a great sense of humor. Easy to get along with, and she made me feel very comfortable too; not pressured to adapt to a different personality around her. Although they were very different people, or at least in my experience they were; Natalie did have a lot of similarities to Alex. She represented the best parts of him, the funny parts, the nice parts.

That wasn't to say that I didn't still miss Alex visiting, because part of me really did. It had just been nice, really. Knowing that every morning, he'd made the effort to drop in the office just before he went to work. Just to talk to me, to check if everything was okay. The conversations had gradually become a lot more casual, too. With this considered, of course when I saw him this morning through the office window at the previous meeting time of 8:30, I couldn't help but feel some kind of satisfaction. Happiness, even, if you could call it that.

"Hey." He said, shutting the door behind him and walking over to the desk.

"Coffee?"

"Sure."

"Come on back." I beckoned him over, stepping back into the little room behind the desk as I did. I took two mugs from the stack, placing them down on the table and pouring two mugs of coffee. I remembered back to the first time I ever made him coffee; when I made it _my_ way and he drank it with something resembling disgust on his face. After that he gave me strict instructions, and so by now i'd gotten used to making sure I perfected it so I wouldn't have to receive his disapproval. In contrast to my own preferred taste, I added an extreme lack of any kind of sweeteners. It was pretty much black; a _foul_ taste in my opinion.

"Have you heard back from the station yet?" I inquired, handing him his coffee and sitting down with my own. Crossing one leg over the other as I sat down, my eyes followed his movements closely as he sat down in the seat in front of me.

"No, of course I haven't. We were only there last night. Relax. Put that at the back of your mind now, it's fine. It'll be fine. I'll come and let you know if anything comes up today." His words were reassuring and comforting but the look on his face contrasted with the hint of kindness behind his words. He rolled his eyes, practically, like my worrying was ridiculous.

"Can you really blame me for being paranoid? I lied my ass off, right to her face! And for all I know, they already have evidence that you weren't with me! I don't know, don't they do that sometimes? See how far you'll take the lie before they bring up their evidence and catch you out?"

"I suppose, yeah, but I can't see what kind of evidence they'd have for this specific case. I know that nobody was around when I was at the docks; and if they were they'd have come forward by now. Was there anyone around the motel that night? Any guests?"

"Nope. Nobody. Just me."

"Good. That's a good sign. Let's just hope nobody was secretly hiding somewhere with binoculars." He said, raising his eyebrows and taking a sip of his coffee.

A quiet and breathy noise sounded through my nose; a very quiet almost-laugh. It was rare that Alex showed his humorous side, but when he did, his lack of any form of facial expression made the statement a lot funnier than it would've been if anyone else said it.

"Do you think if I hadn't lied, they'd be more suspicious by now? I mean-do you think my lie was actually useful for something?" I leaned forward in curiosity, sipping my coffee and wrapping my hands tightly around the mug; craving the warmth against my otherwise cold skin.

"Yeah, maybe. All in all you probably helped, I just don't understand what possessed you to lie in the first place?" He asked, sipping his coffee once again. "And I think i'm right to assume that it wasn't for my sake."

"I just really wanted to lie to that woman-" I admitted, a quiet laugh escaping my lips that almost immediately faded away due to the unimpressed expression on Alex's face. "That's quite bad, I know..."

He scoffed, almost choking on his coffee. " _Quite_ bad? Yeah, you could say that. How did you know she wouldn't just see straight through you?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Because i'm good at lying?"

He snickered, mumbling-to himself i'm sure-but of course I heard. "Don't I know it."

"What does _that_ mean?!" I slammed my coffee down on the desk, with so much force that the liquid inside overflowed out of the mug and quite literally flew through the air. It was like one of those moments that suddenly went in slow motion; dragging out the spill as I watched with no ability to do anything to prevent it. Fresh, hot, coffee splashed right against his light beige shirt; on his chest and shoulder.

"Jesus-" He dragged his chair back in reflex, avoiding the hot liquid that was dripping down the table. He lifted his hands up to shake off what'd somehow managed to spill on his hands. I felt myself wince just watching it happen, almost as if I could feel the burn myself.

I put my hand over my mouth, a combination of guilt and an attempt to hide my amusement. Unfortunately for him, the latter was the main reason. It was the look on his face-the fact that he was always so stoic about everything-that made a situation such as this much funnier.

"I didn't mean to do that..."

"Sure you didn't." He shot me a glare out of disbelief before he looked down to the stain, beginning to violently scrub at it.

"You're making it worse!" I exclaimed, finding it painful to watch the stain beginning to smudge into an even bigger patch on his shirt. I looked around aimlessly, searching for anything that could be used to clean up the growing stain while simultaneously being aware of the fact that there wasn't going to be anything in the office that could help. "I don't think I have anything that I could-"

"It's fine, Norma. Just leave it."

"But wait, it's fine, _because_..." I pointed a finger, standing up and picking up his jacket from where it'd been previously hanging up. "This'll cover it." I stated, waving the jacket in the air. The smile on my face faded as he rolled his eyes, clearly not at all fazed or grateful by the fact that I had a way to solve the problem. Instead he was still unimpressed by my accident, as well as my obsession with wishing to give him back his jacket.

"I best be off now," He began, checking his watch briefly. "Need to get to work."

"Oh." I nodded. "Well, okay." I shook the jacket once again as a hint, encouraging him to walk over and collect the jacket.

He stood up from his seat, downing the last bit of his coffee and placing the mug down on the desk. Hesitantly, he walked over to me and eased his way into the jacket, shrugging his shoulders to bring it up over his body.

"There we go," I said contently, stepping in front of him and straightening the shoulders of the jacket down. "Back in it's rightful place. _And_ it covers the stain." I smiled faintly, pulling down on the collar slightly so that the beige-tainted stain on his shirt was fully concealed from view.

As I looked up from straightening the jacket; a gesture that was a combination of hospitality and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on, my gaze switched to look at him. His eyes seemed to be searching for mine and when they finally met, they locked. We were fixed on each other then; and suddenly, everything else in the room seemed like a blur. The tension in the room grew, and the moment become another one of those that we could so easily get caught up in. We could've so easily ended up giving in to whatever it was that was going on in our heads.

Though, naturally, it also happened to become another one of those moments where we resisted it all. Just another moment of denial.

In a nervous reflex I quickly shifted my gaze down and tapped on his shoulders lightly, thinking of what to say to move on the situation. "Uhm..."

"Work...?" He trailed off, nodding towards the door.

"Yes!" I exclaimed loudly- _too_ loudly probably, a nervous thing. "Yeah, work." I stepped back, leaving his path clear to leave the office. "Better go..." I smiled nervously, waving my arms over towards the door.

"Yeah...uh, thanks for the coffee. My own, and the extra..." He said sarcastically as he gestured towards the covered stain on his chest, letting out a rare chuckle.

The door opened then, and although I was aware someone had walked in, I wasn't focused enough on the rest of my surroundings to be fazed by the entrance of this mystery person.

"Ah, mhm, you're welcome."

"Bye, Norma."

"Bye." I smiled, following his path towards the door and simultaneously seeing Natalie standing at the door. "Oh!" My smile brightened, if anything out of nerves over the fact that she'd walked in on the tension. "Good morning!"

She leaned against the door frame, folding her arms and smugly looking between the two of us. "Moooorning. Fun night?" Her eyes followed Alex as he began walking out, the look on her face serving to pressure to elaborate or show any hints as to what went on. Of course, he didn't. He simply kept his facial expression neutral-as per usual-and flatly mumbled a half hearted "Morning." to her.

As Alex walked out Nat looked back at me with her jaw dropped wide open, as if she was waiting for me to mirror her horror over how he'd not answered her question. Due to the fact that the situation wasn't how she clearly perceived it, she didn't receive the reaction she wanted. If anything, my reaction was near enough the same as Alex's. I shrugged, simply stepping through into the back room once again and glancing back at her. " _What_?"

"What was _that_?"

"What was what?"

" _That_!" She exclaimed; pointing her thumb behind her back as if to gesture back to Alex, then gesturing back to me again. "What I just walked in on!"

"You mean...me saying goodbye to your brother before he goes off to work?" I questioned innocently, raising an eyebrow at her assumption that something had happened.

"No, I mean you and my brother in the awkward-post-sexual-tension atmosphere. Did you guys..." She trailed off, her facial expression-surprisingly-appearing more curious than disgusted.

" _No_!" If anything, my reaction displayed more disgust than hers had. "No, my god no."

"So nothing happened last night?"

"Well," I raised my eyebrows. "About that. It was nothing like that, so you can get that out of your head. Uh, we got taken to the police station? Just your usual night, you know."

"Wait, what?!" She quickly joined me into the back room, full of intrigue and curiosity. "Both of you did? Why?"

"Bob." I paused, pulling a face of disgust which was straight away mirrored on her face. "I _know_. They've been questioning anyone who might have a reason to uh-"

She struck her finger across her neck, making a clicking noise with her mouth; a gesture signifying death.

"Yeah," I nodded, amused at her response.

"Well shit," She scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "That's gonna be a hell of a long investigation, isn't it?"

"Right?" I nodded, and the both of us laughed - grateful in this moment for our mutual dislike for the man. We were hardly being disrespectful, he wasn't exactly someone that deserved to be pitied.

Surprisingly, I hadn't heard much about Natalie's past experiences with Bob Paris yet. It was one of the only stories of her past that I hadn't heard in depth yet. Listening to her talk through past was, at times, like listening to one of your grandparents talk about their experiences in the war. She'd been through so much, been to so many different places, that she had a whole lot to tell. She was only a few years older than me; acted much younger, yet at the same time _seemed_ a lot older too. More experienced. For years i'd been confined just to one household; trapped by a controlling and demanding asshole of a husband. While I cleaned and cooked and scurried back and forth delivering endless cans of beer between ridiculously short distances; the likes of Natalie probably would have been off on some tropical island, feet up, drinking cocktails. There were a lot of things in my life that i'd been held back from. Things on my mental bucket list that'd been so harshly crossed out that they were no longer visible; completely out reach. Natalie was the kind of person that you just knew people would look down on for being immature and too carefree at her age. Society would say she should be married and settled by now; with kids and a _husband_ , confined in a perfect house by a white picket fence. I knew she had no intention or desire of fitting any part of that image, and in all honesty I didn't blame her one bit. If anything, I _envied_ her.

"So you both got questioned?" She eventually asked, breaking the silence that briefly filled the room as our laughs faded.

"Yeah, different rooms obviously. There was a serious miscommunication, I mean...we didn't really have time to talk about it before we went in. They kinda just showed up and asked us to come to the station-"

"Oh god," She groaned in amused horror, sitting down at the desk-in _my_ usual seat, actually-but I decided i'd let her off. "Which one of you fucked up?" She questioned, dragging the coffee pot over to her side of the desk; pouring herself a mug like as if she was preparing to hear my story.

"Me." I grimaced in guilt, then self defensively lifted up a finger. "But! In my defence, Alex made it worse. I told the woman questioning me that Alex was with me the night that Bob went missing, even though we both know he obviously wasn't. Then when he found out that I told them that, he just took the lie even further. Now, long story short, Alex's colleagues all now think that we're together."

"Shit," she laughed. "Well, have fun with that one."

"Right? God, I got him out of shit and he just lands us right back in it. _Typical_."

"Sorry but that's cute."

"What?" I retorted in confusion.

"That you lied for him, I just think it's sweet."

"Oh I didn't do it for _him_!"

She tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow slightly, her facial expression completely blank in disbelief. In that moment, the similarities between her and Alex were crystal clear. While I assumed the majority of Natalie's appearance must come from her mother, she did share a lot of the same features and facial expressions as Alex. Things the both of them inherited from their father, obviously. The most obvious difference between the two of them was that Natalie was just far more expressive than he was; she actually _smiled_ for one, and on a much less rare occasion too.

"I'm serious! I mean, am I glad that it gave him an alibi? Sure. But honestly? I only did it because I actually wanted to lie."

"To the cops? What, you just casually felt like lying when you didn't even need to? No offence Norma, but are you actually insane?"

"You too with the calling me crazy? Jeez, you and Alex are two peas in a freakin' pod." I rolled my eyes. "Come on, I think it's perfectly _human_ to get so irritated by someone that you want to piss them off! Don't you?"

"Okay, when you put it that way I guess i've done that more times than I can count on both hands. But come on, the cops? I mean it's not like you were even lying for your own benefit...or for anyone else's... _apparently_ -" She peeked up at me in judgement. "-so you must have really hated this woman. Who was it? I might know her?"

"Someone Lin? I don't even know, I think I heard Alex call her-"

"Patty?" She laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "My god Norma she's harmless. The hell did she do to piss you off so much?"

"Oh I don't even know," I waved my hand in front of my face dismissively, shrugging. "She just _annoyed_ me and that's all there is to it."

"Ah, yeah. Good excuse." She said in a playfully sarcastic tone, taking a sip of her coffee once again and provoking laughter from me.

"Sorry, I didn't even ask for this, did I?" she held up her mug, tutting quietly.

"Oh, please, you don't need to! You're a guest, remember."

"Yeah, yeah I know. I just felt like I was being rude or something. Did you want some?" She lifted up the coffee pot questioningly.

"Oh, hah..." I shook my head, lifting up my hand. "No, I think i'll pass."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, placing the coffee pot down. "...Okay?"

Quietly snorting at her confusion, I sat down opposite her at the desk. "I've already had my fair share of coffee today, and let's just say it didn't exactly last long." I confessed, pointing out the small drops of coffee on the desk.

"You spilt it on him, didn't you?"

"Yup."

"Ooooh...been there, done that. Was he pissed at you?" She looked at me in intrigue, sipping her coffee. "Is that why he was such a grump just then?"

"No, not really. Well," I paused, laughing quietly. "You know, not any more than usual."

" _Seriously_?" She sat forward in her seat in surprise, then slumped back again. "Ugh, come on. The guy gives me the damn silent treatment for hours on end if I even accidentally stand on his _foot_!" She screeched, blatantly feeling offended. "Frickin' favouritism." She tutted, shaking her head.

"It's hardly favouritism, Natalie-"

"Oh it _is_ , Norma. I swear you could slap him across the face or call him an asshole or something and he literally wouldn't blink an eye at it."

My face scrunched up into a guilty expression; giving her the hint that yes, those things had actually happened. There wasn't much reaction on his end, either.

"See!" She gestured her hand out towards me. "My point exactly. He worships you! Can you please, for the love of god, just put him out of his misery and do something about it? You know you might not make it obvious, but I do think you have feelings for him. And Alex, well, there's no question about it with him. I cannot deal with watching him pine over you much longer. It's actually nauseating." She shut her eyes, rubbing her forehead intensely as if the situation truly did cause her stress.

"How in the hell does he pine?"

"Oh he _pines_. He so does. You just can't see it. I can, because I've never seen him like this before. He's been in relationships, or, you know-at least...had... _acquaintances_." Her face screwed up slightly at the euphemism, waving her hand around slightly. "But he hasn't ever been the way he is with you with anyone else, or at least not from what i've seen."

"From what _you've_ seen. Exactly. You haven't been in contact him for over a _year_. For all you know, he might even be in a relationship right now."

"You're gonna start pulling that card too? Oh come on, I get enough of that crap from Alex." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I mean, the guy _knows_ I don't stick around in one place for long. I've been gone longer than this before now, so I don't know why he's being a big drama queen about it-" When she realised she was ranting, she shook her head and interrupted herself to get back to her original point. " _Anyway_. My lack of contact with Alex doesn't give me any less knowledge of his love life, trust me. I know him. He wouldn't be lingering 'round this place all the time if he was in a relationship."

"So maybe he's not." I shrugged. "That doesn't mean he 'pines' over me. We just happen to be in a situation together right now-"

"True." She shrugged, pausing briefly before she leaned forward and looked right at me. "But, tell me," she began, the tone of her voice a lot more serious and pressurising; making feel like I was back in the hot seat being questioned all over again. "Does that situation _really_ require the two of you looking at each other like the way you just did...when there's nobody around to see it?"

My mouth opened to say something, then closed seconds later. I didn't have a comeback or an excuse this time. I couldn't argue, because she was _right_. The tension between the two of us earlier in the morning wasn't forced; it wasn't an act. It was very real, in fact, and very overwhelming.

"Hm. That's what I thought." A sly smile tugged at her lips; blatantly satisfied by my speechlessness. She sat back in her seat and sipped on her coffee, glancing at me in amusement over the top of the mug.

"Anyway," she stood up, throwing back the rest of her coffee and placing the mug down on the desk. "I'm going shopping. If i'm gonna get there anytime today, I need to get my lanky legs moving. Thanks for the coffee, Norma."

"No problem." I smiled, standing up and following her through to the front of the office as she got ready to leave.

"Oh and before I go," she began, turning around at the door and looking over towards me. "Alex makes a stop at Feast West diner every day at 11:30. Just so you know. They do _really_ good coffee." She hinted with another of her sly smiles, blatantly suggesting that I should stop in to pay Alex back for spilling coffee all over him.

While I simply shook my head and scoffed at her childish attempt at playing cupid, in my mind I did think the idea through. Having a nice breakfast made _for_ me instead of _by_ me did sound pretty good right about now.

"You know what, come on. You can hitch a ride into town." I said defeatedly.

"Oh thank god, I thought you'd never ask." She said in relief, like she'd been waiting for me to offer to give her a ride this whole time.

Her forwardness didn't serve to faze me, as it wasn't an act of rudeness but more humour. In the small amount of time i'd had to get to know her, I was already familiar with the kind of person Natalie was and the way she went about things. She was witty and sarcastic and confident, sure, but never rude or arrogant. My change in opinion of her from our first meeting to now made me think about how wrong I probably was about a lot of the things i'd originally assumed about the kind of guy Alex was, too. Over the years Alex and I had not really got to know each other. To me, he was just the stoic sheriff, and to him I was probably just the crazy woman with a dysfunctional family that got him into a lot of shit. There was still a lot of getting to know each other to do if we wanted our relationship to progress, and maybe the situation we were in at the moment would bring about that. Deep down, behind the denial and dismissal of the possibility of me and Alex becoming something more than mere acquaintances, I did want to get to know him a lot better. He intrigued me from the moment we met, and over the years that only grew.

I picked up my car keys and my jacket and followed Natalie out of the door, locking up the office and switching the sign from open to closed. It wasn't like my break would be of inconvenience to anyone, considering the fact that my only guest was right by my side.

 **I** **do hope you enjoyed this chapter, this is the first chapter i've written since my big break with this story since the last chapter I published on here had already been written before I stopped writing. That being said, it's possible I might be a little rusty - but hopefully not too much. I know there wasn't very much Normero interaction in this chapter, but there will be all in good time I promise. Hopefully you don't mind slow burn, haha! (i'll try not to make it TOO slow, though)**

 **If there's anything you'd like to see in this story, however little a detail - whether it's something that you wanted to see with Normero in the show but never happened, or even something that did happen in the show but you'd like it to still be included in this story despite the slightly different direction i'm going in, please let me know in a review or a PM! I'm always up for suggestions, after all they do help me as well as satisfy you guys.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Cupid's Arrow

**POV: Alex**

My morning at work had been exactly the same dull, tedious and repetitive slot of time that it always was when there was paperwork to do. That is, with the addition of being glanced at and whispered about while walking through the corridors. No doubt word had probably spread round the station about what occurred last night; probably all _thought_ they knew about the (non-existent) relationship between the moody, unsociable sheriff they'd always thought me to be and that blonde, trouble-magnet motel owner they all heard so much about. I could never understand gossip. The kind of people who made a personal soap opera out of other people's lives for their own personal gain—they baffled me. Did these people honestly not have anything better and more interesting to do or think about?

The office door opened for the first time this morning, in coming the brunette receptionist from the front desk with a small pile of paperwork in her hand.

"Thanks, Regina." I muttered as she placed the papers on my desk; of course not _truly_ thankful for the addition to my already considerably large pile of paperwork.

"Is there anything else?"

"Uh," I looked around the office, as if to check for anything that might trigger the memory of needing assistance with anything. "Not that I can think of, no."

Just as she flashed a smile, nodded and turned to walk out, I pushed myself up in my chair slightly and looked over at her. "But, I should say that Natalie is back in town."

"Oh?" She nodded.

"Come on." I shook my head, unable to disguise the hint of amusement that appeared on my face at her reaction. "It's no use downplaying your reaction. I _know_ , otherwise I wouldn't have told you she was here."

"Oh." She repeated; this time in a defeated tone. "How? Did you know, I mean."

"Nat is hardly the quietest of women anyway, give her alcohol and she'll tell you her whole life story. Thanksgiving a few years back—it was 'Story Time with Natalie' as she decided to call it, she told me everything."

"Right," The look on her face was like that of a child when they thought they were about to get told off by their parents or a teacher. "Look, I don't know what she told you but—"

"She told me it was her fault. That she realized she wasn't ready to commit, so she let you go and that she was a real bitch about it apparently."

"Oh." She raised an eyebrow, blatantly surprised at how truthful Natalie had been. Didn't know her _that_ well, obviously. Natalie was never one to defend herself by means of lying, or sugar coating her actions. If she did wrong by someone, she would always own up to it. "Well, then yeah. That's pretty much it." She scoffed, the tone of her voice almost cold and bitter. By the sounds of it, the break-up hadn't been nice. Or rather, Natalie hadn't been nice.

"Just don't treat her as another one of those asshole ex's, alright, because i'm pretty sure you've probably had a lot worse."

She simply stared at me for a moment, then shook her head. "This isn't even—you're my boss, Alex. We never talk about things outside of work, so to go from that to discussing my love life like you're my best friend? Give over. I don't need—or want—your advice, and I certainly don't want to sit around while you big up your sister to boost her ego."

"I don't care about your love life, or your life in general for that matter. I come here to work, do what I need to do and be done with it. You and the rest of my colleagues know that by now. I'm not trying to boost Natalie's ego because, hell, she doesn't need me to. If she wanted to try and prove her innocence to you, she'd do it herself. But she doesn't want to. Last I heard she thought you were better off without her."

"Then why are we even having this conversation?"

"Look," I said, tearing off a small part of unused paper and jotting down Natalie's phone number. "Like I said, I don't care about your love life. And like _you_ said, we're not friends. So I have no interest in giving you some big long speech about what I think you should do." I slid the piece of paper across the desk. "All i'm doing is what I know she won't, because she's as stubborn as I am. She changed her number last year. You want to contact her and take all this up with her, go for it. You want to rip that piece of paper up into tiny little pieces, go for it. It's your choice."

Her eyes flicked back and forth between fixing on the piece of paper, then back to me, then to the paper again. She eventually sighed in defeat, violently swiping the paper off the desk. "Make this the last time you interfere with my life outside of work, will you?"

"Oh you can count on it."

She smiled; the kind that was at a balance between being sarcastic and genuine, then shut the door behind her and allowed me to go back to the work I was doing.

 **POV: Norma**

"That one looks really good on you."

"I'm don't know..." Natalie said pessimistically, smoothing down the material of the black dress. "I feel like you can see what I had for breakfast."

"Oh shut up." I scoffed. "Look at you, there's barely anything to you. It really flatters your figure."

"It does?"

" _Yes_."

"Okay, good, because I would _cry_ if I had to leave this little gem here." She sighed in relief, practically hugging herself in the dress she seemed to have fallen in love with.

She quickly got dressed back into her casual clothes, taking the dress to the counter and putting her credit card in the machine. My attention veered from what Natalie was doing to the door just next to us that led out onto the street, and I did a double take. Second time was the charm to make me realise that, yes, that was indeed Alex Romero crossing the road from the other side of the street. I put my weight on one foot, the other lifting up slightly as my body tilted to follow Alex's movements down the street. The clock read 10:57am. Natalie had said Alex usually went to a diner at around 11, so I assumed that was where he was heading.

"Off we go."

I jumped, nearly losing my footing. While staring through the door, I hadn't realised that Natalie had finished paying for her dress. "Huh?"

"Feel like some pancakes? Feast West ones are the beeeest."

I blinked, shooting her an unimpressed expression. Feast West diner was the one she'd mentioned earlier, that Alex went to for a break on most working days. She had obviously saw me looking, saw Alex, and took her opportunity to push us together. Every time I was around Natalie felt like a scene from _The Parent Trap_. Like she was my annoying little child—despite being older than me—trying to play cupid and bring me towards Alex. Whenever it was clear she was blatantly hinting at the idea of him and I being together, i'd told her that she was doing it all based on nothing. Me and him weren't friends, no less and no more. We weren't anything, and we wouldn't _be_ anything. Or at least, I never used to think so.

"Come on." She laughed and linked her arm with mine, suggestively tugging on my arm and leading me out of the store. We began to approach Feast West diner, located just down the street. She unlinked her arm from mine as we got inside, navigating past all the different booths. When she eventually spotted Alex in the distance, she slowed her speed down. I followed closely behind, walking normally in contrast to her James Bond style crawl; amused by her attempt at creeping up on her older brother.

"Bonjour, asshole." She finally said rather loudly, plopping down into the booth Alex was sat at and scaring him half to death in the mean time.

"Jesus Christ," He slammed his newspaper down. "Don't _do_ that."

"Sorry not sorry. We were just passing and I knew you'd be here so I thought i'd come say hey. How has work been?" She asked, draping her arm around his shoulders.

"Gotta say, the only interesting part was talking to your ex-girlfriend."

Her whole demeanor changed then. The arm she'd draped around his shoulders slid down slightly, the smile on her face fading. "Regina?"

"Yeah. She wasn't exactly thrilled that you were back, but I made you a pretty good case and gave her your new number. If she comes running i'm expecting payback."

"You did?" She tutted, her eyes softening. "Awh, dude." The arm she had around him tightened again, the smile returning as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Wait, as in your receptionist Regina?"

Despite the fact Natalie had used the plural 'we' it was clear that Alex hadn't noticed my presence, as the moment I spoke he looked up quickly in surprise.

"Yeah, as in my receptionist Regina."

"Well i'd never expect that, how the heck did that happen?" An amused smile crossed my face as I slid into the booth; the opposite side to Natalie and Alex.

"So this one night, there was a huge storm. I was staying with loser here at the time." She said, pointing towards Alex. "I was in the house by myself, pretty late at night, and he was nowhere to be seen. Bare in mind, he was meant to be done working _hours_ ago by this point. My poor ass had no car so I walked all the way to the station through that blasted storm. Got there, and obviously, the idiot wasn't there. I could've killed him. Even though I was angry at walking all that way for nothing, obviously the fact he wasn't there worried me even more, because that meant he was out in the storm. So I was pretty upset, I guess, and I suppose Regina noticed. Just as I was about to leave, she asked me if I wanted to stay and wait for Alex at the station. Said it'd be warmer if I came on through to his office, offered me a hot cocoa. So, I agreed. She was just going to leave me in there to wait by myself, but, i'm a people person. I wanted to get to know her, you know? It was late, it wasn't like she had work to do. So, I made her stay. We talked, got to know each other, I thought she was pretty cool, we swapped numbers, became friends, and then...became... _not friends_." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "And then I was a bitch." Under the bluntness and honesty there was a hint of sadness to her voice, showing how she clearly felt remorse for however she acted.

"Oh..." I nodded slowly. "Bad breakup?"

"Yeah, it was pretty ugly." She shrugged. "But oh well, what can you do."

"Apologise?" Alex piped up, and she lifted her head from his shoulder; breaking the affectionate contact and swatting his arm.

"Don't be an asshole, Alex. You know I wasn't in the right frame of mind then."

"You are now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well, exactly. If she calls me, we'll talk about it. But i'm not making a fool out of myself by going out of my way to give her some big long speech about how sorry I am if she's just going to tell me to stick my apology up my ass."

"It'd make you look good if you tried."

"Oh and you would, would you? If you were in my position." She asked with a raised brow, waiting for Alex's reaction. Nothing but an inaudible mumble of some sort could be heard as he simply averted his gaze from her. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You know, I didn't come here to be lectured-—by the likes of you two, of all people—about stubbornness and how relationships work."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, speaking to Natalie yet his gaze was set on me.

"It's supposed to mean that i'm getting my ass out of here." She said, shifting across the booth and standing up.

"You're done shopping already?" I asked, anxious about being left alone with Alex despite the fact that I was well aware that was her plan this entire time. After the events of this morning, there was the potential of the atmosphere being awkward and uncomfortable. Or worse, and what seemed more dangerous at this point, the general tension between the two of us had the potential to be heightened even further.

"No, but you are. Don't think I can't see you yawning and checking your watch outside the changing rooms in every store we've stopped in." She narrowed her eyes, waggling a finger at me.

"Yeah, sorry about that..." I laughed, scratching the side of my neck guiltily. With being taken in for questioning pretty last night, it wasn't until even later that we actually arrived back home. Even then, there'd been distractions that held me back from getting to bed. A prolonged conversation with Alex outside the motel; fighting against the irritating stubbornness of his in that moment which prevented him from accepting my offer to keep his room key for future convenience, the dreaded sight of a sink full of dirty dishes that would be _completely_ criminal for me to leave soaking all night, and the worst of them all; the sight of Norman sitting at the top of the stairs. Hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees, tapping his foot like a disappointed parent. The parent/child switch-over in this situation may have been somewhat amusing had his demeanour been different. He was not himself at all; whether he had blacked out or not I couldn't tell, but either way this wasn't the Norman I knew. Dear, sweet Norman, who wouldn't even hurt an ant if it crawled over his foot. He looked my way but with glazed eyes, like as if he'd been sitting there for hours, staring into oblivion; awaiting my return.

"Where have you been, mother? And what have you done?" He'd muttered from the top of the stairs; fear and dread present in his voice with his last question. The way he spoke to me—the way he _looked_ at me—in this moment; he was treating me like someone who was unpredictable, did bad things, someone who he had to worry about simply venturing outside the house without him knowing when and where, _someone who needed help_. He was treating me in the way I had been treating him, and with that I couldn't help but feel like it was all my fault. Maybe i'd dealt with it in the wrong way. No, I _had_ dealt with it in the wrong way, that was a proven point. I'd patronised him too much, maybe. Not taken his condition seriously. Most of all, worst of all, I hadn't gotten him help.

"Honestly don't sweat it, hun, it's fine." Natalie said; her voice pulling me back to reality as I began to cast my mind back to the events of last night. "Stay here and eat, you must be starving. I recommend the pancakes, just saying." She said once again and started walking away backwards, pointing at the two of us with her next comment. "And the coffee! Just be careful though, yeah?" She said smugly, which might've been effective had my concentration not been set on the scene that was about to unfold instead. A waiter was approaching just behind Natalie; balancing on his hand a tray occupied with a glass of orange juice and a plate of waffles and ice cream. I grimaced as she bumped into the man, knocking the tray out of his hand and sending the plate and glass crashing to the ground.

I could just about hear a quiet snort coming from behind me over all the commotion, and when I turned around it was to Alex, of all people—the stoic and often humorless Sheriff—audibly chuckling in amusement. A smile on his face was such a rare sight to see; and so it was moments like these where I was able to observe the fact that actually, he had a rather charming smile. I couldn't be sure if the appeal was simply its rarity, and that it'd be mediocre if he was just your average person, or whether it truly was as handsome and as captivating to me as it was now. It was contagious, that's for sure. Despite trying with all my might to prevent it, I could feel the corner of my lips beginning to quirk into a smile.

"You're an ass," I stated with a shake of my head. "You groan and you grumble at things that are _meant_ to be funny, and then this is what cracks you up?"

"Oh and you're so unamused? You have a funny way of showing it." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that if that'd happened to me you wouldn't be on the floor rolling and clutching your stomach?"

As much as I wanted so badly to prove a point, even the thought of such a thing set me off into a fit of laughter.

A knock on the window caused both of us to jump, drawing our attention to Natalie who'd made her way outside after help cleaning up the carnage she's caused. She was laughing, and so clearly amused at what'd happened and that Alex had found it so funny. Still, she shook her head and flicked her middle finger at him for laughing before she continued her journey down the street.

A waitress came to the table then, asking if we wanted anything to eat or drink.

"Oooh, yeah—i'll have the pancakes and strawberries please. And a coffee."

"Alrighty. And will it be the usual for you, sir?" The older woman asked as she finished jotting down my order and switched her gaze to Alex.

"Yeah, thanks Josephine."

"And a coffee. On me." I cut in, noticing once again the very small hint of a smile appear Alex's face as he shook his head in amusement.

"Got it, hun. Shouldn't be too long. She flashed a smile at the both of us, taking our menus and heading back into the kitchen.

"So you really _do_ come here all the time then." I observed, noticing his familiarity with the waitress and how she didn't even have to ask for his order. I sat back in my seat, crossing one leg over the other and tugging on the material of my skirt as it inched up slightly.

"I guess I am here a lot, yeah." He nodded. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, Natalie mentioned it this morning."

"What, that was just a general knowledge trivia question—where does Alex go for his lunch break? How does that even come up in conversation?"

"Oh, she thinks that something... _happened_...between you and I this morning—last night, whatever." I scoffed, ridiculing the idea and waving my hand dismissively in front of my face. "I'm guessing she told me to come here so we could 'talk about it'" I speculated, making air quotations with my fingers and rolling my eyes ever so slightly.

"You don't think so?"

"I don't think so what?"

"That anything happened this morning."

"No? Well, apart from me spilling coffee all over you..."

"Right."

Until now, I hadn't realized that he thought anything of the tension between us earlier this morning. The denial of anything happening was due to the fact i'd convinced myself that it was nothing, that the atmosphere probably felt completely different to him than it had to me. Looking at him now, though—how he slowly nodded in response, how his dark eyebrows knitted together slightly in confusion, disappointment, or something of the sort—I wondered if that feeling had actually been mutual. If it was mutual, that made it real. Which in turn made the entire situation terrifying, and even more difficult to confront.

I shifted in my position uncomfortably, uncrossing my legs and crossing them again the opposite way around. "Well, I guess—"

"If you don't think anything happened then nothing happened, Norma." He interrupted coldly.

I raised my eyebrows, holding a hand out in surrender. "Okay, fine, let's leave it at that. Sheesh..."

He went back to reading his newspaper, and the atmosphere became as awkward and uncomfortable as i'd feared it might've been earlier on. Every now and then i'd peer up at him, thinking he was going to say something, or that my pressurising gaze would urge him to say something—but no. Nothing. Adamant for him to be the one to speak first due to his rudeness, I simply let the awkward atmosphere linger for a while.

"Here you are folks." The waitress from earlier said as she approached the table, placing each of our plates in front of us. Alex's 'usual' appeared to be pancakes with bacon and scrambled eggs, a savory option in contrast to my more desert-style choice.

"Thank you." I smiled at the woman gratefully. I pulled my own plate closer and gathered my set of cutlery, pushing Alex's across to his side of the table.

He simply started eating silently, barely glancing my way.

"You're acting like a child."

"Hm?"

"You know what I mean. Ignoring me. What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, Norma. I'm just eating my food."

"Alright, fine. Be like that." I shrugged, slumping back in my seat and almost angrily shovelling a forkful of pancake pieces into my mouth.

If I didn't have food in front of me, this'd be the perfect time for a dramatic walk-out. I was too hungry for that, though, and these pancakes were way too good too abandon. So, again, I just let the silence linger. All that could be heard was the upbeat old-fashioned music playing, distinct chit-chat from the other people in the diner and clinking plates and glasses; an almost peaceful silence. Awkward and frustrating and silly, that's for sure—but peaceful.

However the peace was eventually broken by the loud, harsh sound of my phone buzzing which seemed to cause the both of us to jump in reflex.

"Do you _have_ to have it that loud?"

I simply glared at him, annoyed—though nevertheless unsurprised—that his first words to break his silent treatment were to judge and insult me, and placed my finger to my lips. "Hello? Sorry, who is this?" I pressed my hand to the opposite ear, blocking out the noise from the diner that overpowered the unidentified speaker ever so slightly.

"You're Norma Bates?"

"Yes..." I confirmed cautiously.

"Your son was traipsing through my land this morning, talking to himself. Seemed...frustrated. I tried to calm him, help him, but he was violent so I—"

"Well where the heck is he now?! What did you do?!"

"I checked him into Willamette County psychiatric hospital."

"You did _what_?!"

"Norma, what's going on—" Alex cut in, and I held out my finger to once again silence him so I could continue my conversation with the man on the phone.

"Listen, mister...what the hell gives _you_ the right to check _my_ son into a psychiatric hospital? I'm sorry but who even _are_ you?!"

"He was violent, ma'am, and clearly confused. Out of it. I did what I had to do."

"Norma..."

"Alex I don't have the time for this right now, okay?" I reached into my purse with my free hand, pulling out money for my half-eaten breakfast and flinging it quickly across the table. "Keep the change."

I shifted across the booth, grabbing my handbag and quickly walking towards the door. On my way I knocked shoulders with a passing waiter, the same one who Natalie had fallen into earlier. "Holy—jeez, learn to look where you're frickin' going!"

After aimlessly ranting at the stranger on the phone for doing what really and truly was probably the wisest and most logical thing to do, I eventually hung up and found my way to my parking spot. I started the car, speeding off in determination.

If Norman was going to be admitted anywhere for anything, it was going to be by me and me only. No way in hell was I going to allow him to be labelled as 'violent' by some random guy who would probably count his oh-so-precious crops being trampled on as an act of violence.

 _There had to be some way around this._


	13. Chapter 13 - The Waiting Game

**POV: Norma**

In what felt like lightning speed due to my level of determination, I arrived at Willamette County hospital. I locked up the car and walked up to the entrance, pushing the doors open and purposefully walking through the corridor to the reception area.

"I need to see my son, it's urgent."

"Name?"

"His or mine?"

" _His_." The miserable-looking woman said flatly, as if she were stating the obvious.

I glanced at her distastefully, sharing his name with slight hesitation. "Norman Bates."

Her eyes flicked down to the computer in front of her, and she began typing on the keyboard. After a brief pause, she looked back up. "Well, i'm afraid you _can't_ see him. He's under 48 hour observation."

"48 hours? Why 48 hours?"

"I don't know, ma'am, that's not my area." She drawled.

"Who's in charge here? I want to speak to his doctor."

"Take a seat." She muttered, nodding her head to the small waiting area opposite reception. "Please."

I looked towards the selection of seats behind me. One occupied, one free. A pathetic excuse of a 'waiting area' for such a busy hospital. I looked back at the woman with a shake of my head and sat down in the only unoccupied seat, only to be closely examined—and quite frankly _judged_ —by the strange man sitting beside me. I frowned and turned the other way, letting out a deep sigh as I closed my eyes to pretend I was somewhere other than the hellhole that this place really was.

"Take a seat, Mrs Bates."

The doctor said, without an utter of an apology or an explanation to excuse my waiting of what must have been 25 minutes or more.

I sat across from her, crossing one leg over the other and waiting for her to unload the string of questions she quite clearly had from the way she purposefully clicked her pen and positioned her paper ready to take down notes.

"The farmer who found your son said that he witnessed him talking to himself, acting violently—said he brought him here in fear that he was _dangerous_. Have you ever known him to be dangerous?"

"Dangerous? No. God, no. He's the sweetest boy who ever lived."

"Okay," She nodded. "Well, has he experienced anything like this before?"

"He—" I paused, aware of her authority and the fact I was obligated to be honest with her. "He's experienced blackouts."

"Mm," She murmured, and I tried to peer over the desk as she began scribbling onto her piece of paper. "Who is his doctor?"

"He—" I paused again, shifting in my seat uncomfortably. Before I could even answer the question, I could already feel her judgement coming on. "He doesn't have one."

"You mean to say, that he's had these... _blackouts_...and you hadn't thought of taking him to see a doctor?"

"He fainted at school, they took him to a hospital. They ran some tests and they didn't find anything."

"But...he blacks out regularly?"

"Well," I shrugged. "That depends on what you mean by regularly."

"More than once a year?"

I swallowed down a gulp; realising that my excuses and reasonings against certain choices were slowly running out. Now it was only down to my train of thought and the line between what was right and what what was wrong—a line which, when it came to Norman, was almost completely blurred. "Yes."

She was quiet for a moment, concentrating on writing down a fair bit of information down on her paper. "And you say he has no doctor, and hasn't been tried on any medication?"

"No."

"Okay, Mrs Bates. Thank you for your time, and your information." She nodded and stood up, picking up the piece of paper she'd been filling in and sliding it into a file.

"Is that all? Can I see him now?"

"No you cannot, he is under observation."

"He's my son, what right do you have to keep him from me?!"

"Your son is 18 years old, he is legally an adult. He is quite possibly mentally ill and dangerous. The time for you to take care of him was _before_ this." She said with blatant judgement. "Did you know that it could be seen as negligent that you failed to take your son to a doctor despite the fact he clearly has issues?"

The words 'negligent' and 'failed' hit me like a stab in the gut. To any mother, such words being used to describe your parenting would be worse than any personal insult under the sun. I could feel tears building in my eyes, becoming overwhelmed by the feelings that her words brought on. Regret, fear, shame. "Can I _please_ see him?" I asked helplessly, wanting nothing more than to hold my child in my arms in this moment. To reassure him—to _promise_ him—that i'd make everything better, and that despite not having done the right thing all this time, that I would do better by him from this moment on.

"If and when we need you, we'll call." She stated bluntly, not giving me a second glance as she left the room.

I left the hospital in a huff—a _rage_ almost—frustrated at my lack of success in bringing Norman home. While half my anger was triggered by that god-awful woman and the harsh and hard hitting words she just had to use to criticise my parenting skills, the other half was by the fact that actually, she was right; I had been a bad parent. Granted, I wouldn't go as far as _negligent_ , but over the past year or so—yes, i'd probably handled things in the wrong way.

She couldn't have been a mother, that woman. I was sure of it. She hadn't shown an ounce of sympathy towards me, nor understanding of my reasonings behind the way i'd handled Norman's blackouts. Just went straight to the bad parent claim. A fellow mother wouldn't do that. Not someone who knows how it feels to be a mother; to have that unbelievably strong urge to protect your children from the evils of the world and to want to keep them under your wing right up until the very last day it's time for you to let them go. Not someone who would know how it feels to leave a child—a child who for the past 18 years, has relied on you and you only to wipe every tear, nurse every wound and cure every sick-bug—in the hands of some stranger. A stranger who, sure, might have a college degree and a couple years worth of medical experience and knowledge; doesn't know what your son likes to eat for breakfast every day, or what his favourite colour is, or whether he likes to sleep with his sheets tucked in or out, or with the bedside lamp on or off. In the long run, getting him admitted would be the best thing for him. Of course it would, and from the mentality of any other human being with some common sense, that was the logical thing to do. From the mentality of a mother, though, and particularly one who relies so heavily on her close bond with her child? Such a thing was easier said than done, and I was so tired of trying to project my train of thought to make those around me understand that.

I had the chance to start doing the right thing, and I wanted to, but it sure was _not_ going to start by permanently admitting him to Willamette County. With the shitty, moody, done-with-their-job employees and the uncomfortably clinical lighting and general uncleanliness of the place; it wasn't an atmosphere I was willing to leave Norman in. He deserved somewhere warm and homely, somewhere he'd be taken care of in the way that was necessary but not made to feel like a lunatic or a criminal. Somewhere like Pineview Sanitarium. At this point, though, there was no 'like' about it. I'd looked through every brochure and scanned every website of such places in close proximity and Pineview was the only one that stood out. In my mind, there was no other option. The feeling was like when you were young and you had your heart set on a particular college; and no matter where your parents tried to direct you, you would never stray from that one college because you could already picture yourself strolling around the beautiful campus and stopping off at that cute little coffee shop in between classes. An odd comparison considering that life at Pineview for Norman was hardly going to be an experience to treasure; but a similar feeling nonetheless.

The issue was, of course, the money that Pineview cost—and my lack of it. Not to mention the fact that the woman i'd spoke to when I visited the place had whittled on about insurance; something that, surprise surprise, I also didn't have. Before I could even think about whether this place was even a possibility, I first had to get Norman out of the hellhole he was currently in. So, I set out to turn to the first person that came to mind when there was something beyond my reach that I needed to know how to handle.

"Just go on through."

Regina—the familiar brunette receptionist that'd been the topic of conversation a couple of hours ago—drawled tiredly as I approached the front desk. Despite my mood, this still managed to amuse me; the fact that she was quite clearly so used to my impatient yells of 'I need to see Sheriff Romero right away' that I merely had to open my mouth and she knew what was coming.

I pushed the office door open and walked through, navigating my way towards the door to Alex's office and opening the door quickly. "Alex—"

He jumped in his seat ever so slightly, taking a sharp intake of breath. "Christ, Norma." He exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his noise. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"

"Okay, whatever, but—"

"Did you go to the hospital? What happened?"

"Well if you'd let me speak," I raised my voice slightly, to which he raised an eyebrow held his hand out in a 'be my guest' kind of way. "Thank you."

I pulled the chair stationed opposite him out from underneath the desk and sat down with a sigh, tangling a hand in my hair stressfully. "He's been put under 48 hour observation because some farmer guy said he was dangerous." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, how reliable of a source really is a _farmer_? Norman probably didn't even do anything wrong besides step on a few crops or something." I tutted, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Norma, if this man thought to check Norman into a _hospital_ then it quite clearly was something serious. Did he say exactly what it was that had him make that decision?"

"Apparently he was violent and he was talking to himself? Pfft, I don't even know." I shrugged, like such an accusation was ridiculous. Like it hadn't happened before, when I knew for a fact that it had, and that actually—I was forgetting—so did Alex. Denial and dismissal were common ways I chose to deal with this kind of thing; especially around other people, and _especially_ Alex. It prevented the questions and judgement that way. "I just don't like that my own son is being kept in that hellhole because of a goddamn _farmer_."

"Do you have something against farmers?" He questioned, a slight hint of amusement to his tone. Not the pleasing kind this time, though, but the annoying kind. Annoying because he was making a joke of something that was serious to me.

"What? No, what—that's not the point. The point is that—"

"Well you seem to be making it the point..."

"Alex, I swear to god—"

"Alright, alright." He gave in, shutting his eyes briefly and holding a hand up to stop my warning. "I get your point. What I don't get is what you want _me_ to do about it."

I flinched slightly, my face screwing up in confusion. "Well...I don't know. You're the Sheriff. I thought maybe you could pull some strings, show your authority, y'know—beat someone up in a parking lot or something. Just, help me out somehow..." I shrugged, drifting off innocently.

" _Norma_!"

"What?!"

"Do you honestly think that's how being a Sheriff works? That I can just go around beating people up to get my own way just because I can?"

"You've done it before." I reminded him with a shrug. "Abernathy?"

"That was different, that was urgent."

"And this isn't?!"

"I'm not saying that this isn't serious. I'm saying that it isn't urgent. Nobody is trying to harm you or Norman. You're both safe, are you not? There's no threat."

"Hah," I scoffed. "I'd hardly say Norman was _safe_. God, whatever bed they've given him probably has nails sticking up through the mattress. That place is a death trap at every turn, honestly—it's so unhygienic that whatever illnesses they're trying to cure will only end up getting clouded over by something else you'll pick up while you're there. And the people? Well. Don't get me started."

"They're professionals there, Norma, they know what they're doing. Norman's in good hands." He was quite clearly trying to be reassuring, but it unfortunately wasn't working. I'd met one doctor, and she was hardly what i'd label as 'good hands' to leave my son in. "48 hours really isn't that long. Just wait it out."

"Just wait it out. Great, okay. Okay, thank you Alex for your amazingly comforting words. You're practically a therapist." I pushed myself up from my seat, picking up my handbag and getting ready to leave office.

He sighed once again. "Norma—"

"No, you know what...just...get back to your easy-breezy-piece-of-cake of a life and i'll deal with the mess that is my own all by myself, like I do everything."

"Piece of cake?" He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Is that what you think? That my life is easy?"

"Hm?" I turned around, stopping at the door. "Oh–yeah, I do." I said honestly, shrugging and leaning against the door frame. "I mean why wouldn't it be, hm? You're a Sheriff; man in a position of power. You got the good job, good money. You live alone. You don't have children, anyone you have to provide for or look after as well as yourself. You don't have any attachments, people that you care about, you don't have any of that crap weighing you down. What's your biggest worry every day, huh? Which of your crappy microwaveable meals you're going to shove onto your plate when you get home from work?"

"Oh, yeah, you got me." He sat back in his chair, nodding. "That's _exactly_ how I live my life." He scoffed, muttering his next words to the point that they were barely audible. "You have no idea."

"Maybe I don't. Guess i'll forever be burdened with the mystery of the oh-so-great and powerful Sheriff Alex Romero." I said, making a dramatic gesture with my hands before shaking my head and opening the door.

"Look, I get that you're upset," He continued, despite my indication that I wanted to leave. I turned back to him with a sigh, listening to whatever it was he had to say, expecting nothing more reassuring or comforting than what he'd already said. "And when you're upset you think that everyone's your enemy and the whole world is out to get you. Maybe you and I aren't friends, but we aren't enemies. Not anymore. I _want_ to help you, but I can't do anything. Alright? If I could, I would, but trust me when I say that I have _nothing_ to do with Willamette. My authority wouldn't mean anything there. Best thing you can do, is wait it out. If you don't provoke them anymore than I assume you already have, then chances are once those 48 hours are up, they'll call you up to pick him up right away. Maybe even before then. You can tell me it's not helpful advice as much as you want, but the best thing you can do is wait it out."

I listened this time—really listened—actually, because once I found it in myself to stop in my tracks to leave the office and pay attention, I realised that he really was talking some sense this time round. Not being careless or quick about it, or dismissing it as nothing or making a joke out of it. I felt that reassurance now, the feeling that it would all be okay. I realised that Alex was wise, had experience in this kind of thing. If I were to trust anyone's opinion, then it best be his.

"48 hours is a long time. What am I meant to do in that time?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I have no idea what you do in your spare time. Take up knitting. Do a crossword. Go help a farmer tend to his crops."

"You're hilarious." I said with sarcasm and a narrow of my eyes, but in truth—I was thankful for his humour. It was like a breath of fresh air from how depressing this past hour or so had been, which was odd considering i'd never usually label Alex Romero as a breath of fresh air.

"Don't knock it till you try it. Never know, you could end up being a farmer's wife."

"Ugh," I shuddered, like the thought was truly awful. At this point I wasn't sure if I was just playing on his amusement at my dislike for the farmer, or if I really and truly would hate to marry a farmer. Probably a bit of both. "You'd sooner see me marry _you_ than a farmer."

No witty comeback this time. Just an almost awkward smile and him looking away from me. Somehow, with what was meant to be another joke added along with his, I had made the atmosphere awkward and uncomfortably silent.

"Well—i'm gonna leave you to your work now." I said, pulling door open further. I watched as he nodded with a very tiny hint of a smile at the corner of his lips, and I wanted to say thank you then. For giving me advice. Or sorry, for inevitably being a bitch with him. Or both. I didn't, though, just added it to the list of things I always thought but never said and let that awkward silence linger. I made a small wave of my hand suffice as a goodbye before I shut the door, which he returned.

 _Just wait it out_ , I mentally repeated on my journey back through reception and out of the building. There was nothing more tempting than to go over there and give that judgemental, god-awful, stuck up doctor a piece of my mind. _Don't provoke_ , I reminded myself. _Just wait it out_. I got in my car, drove home, got in the house and sat on my bed hopelessly. After hours of just sitting there, trying to think of a way to consume my time, I realised the sad and frankly scary truth. I really did have nothing better to do with my life at this moment in time than to sit around and wait for my 18 year old son to come home. No hobbies or past times, no group of friends to sit around and drink wine and complain about how shitty life is with. Just me. I huffed, scrunching my face up slightly and letting my head fall back to my bed.

Maybe I _should_ take up knitting.


End file.
